Lithium Ionic's Bandeira Build Team Has District Plant Experience, With the Permit Still Open

• RTEK International DMCC, engaged for construction and operational readiness since April 2025, has Sigma Lithium's Grota do Cirilo project, less than 4 kilometers from Bandeira, among the successful lithium projects listed for its team.
• Chief Operating Officer Mike Westendorf leads delivery, with a background spanning mining operations and capital projects.
• Pre-permit work includes 1,352 meters of geotechnical drilling, finalized major design packages, a first long-lead order for the main substation transformer, and contractor tendering.
• The Salinas sale, announced as complete on August 25, 2026, delivered US$30.0 million in cash at closing, with US$7.5 million deferred and a 2.0% royalty on future spodumene sales retained.
• Management describes the construction permit, applied for in November 2023, as probably the biggest remaining item, and the plant-side record does not by itself cover Bandeira's underground mine.

Why Delivery Capability Now Drives the Bandeira Case

Lithium Ionic Corp. (TSXV: LTH | OTC: LTHCF | FSE: H3N) published Bandeira's project economics in its September 2025 feasibility study (FS), which reports a post-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate (NPV8%) of US$1.45 billion, a post-tax internal rate of return of 61%, and initial capital of US$191 million, down from US$266 million in the May 2024 study. Site operating costs fell to US$378 per ton of concentrate from US$420 per ton on a 5.2% basis.

Equipment purchases and construction determine whether those estimates hold. The company's timeline shows basic and detailed engineering underway since 2024, and RTEK International DMCC (RTEK) engaged for construction and operational readiness in April 2025, ahead of the September 2025 FS.

Build Team Credentials Cover the Process Plant & Site Operations

RTEK has advised Lithium Ionic since April 2025. Its team is led by Founders and Directors Brian Talbot, Nick Rowley and Rodrigo Roso. The company credits the group with more than 80 years of cumulative experience across geology, chemical and metallurgical operations, process development and project execution, and describes it as among the most experienced dense media separation (DMS) construction teams in the world.

The project list attached to that description includes Sigma's Grota do Cirilo project, Bikita Minerals in Zimbabwe, the Kenticha Project, Allkem, Atlas Lithium's Neves Project and South Africa Lithium's Highbury. Grota do Cirilo is the closest precedent for Bandeira's plant: an open-pit mine that began production in April 2023 using DMS, less than 4 kilometers away. Bandeira's proposed flowsheet is the same route: conventional crushing, sorting, separation, and dewatering. The company lists the projects at team level and does not specify each team member's role at Grota do Cirilo.

RTEK's role is advisory. Inside the company, Chief Operating Officer Mike Westendorf is a professional engineer with 20 years of experience across mining operations, capital projects, engineering, and corporate development. He most recently served as Director of Operational Excellence for Copper Mountain Mining Corp. (now Hudbay Minerals), where he led initiatives to improve production, execute capital upgrades, and reduce costs at the Copper Mountain Mine, and he also acted as Production Manager overseeing development of the Eva Copper Project in Australia and as Director of Metallurgy. Managing Director, Brazil Hélio Diniz, has more than 40 years of mining experience, including serving as Managing Director Brazil for Xstrata (Glencore), and Vice President of Exploration Carlos Costa has about 40 years of experience, including 10 years in mine geology across underground and open-pit operations.

Pre-Permit Work Is Already Producing Construction Inputs

The company reports geotechnical drilling complete at 1,352 meters, major design packages finalized, detailed engineering advancing, and a first long-lead order placed for the main substation transformer. Contractor tendering is under way, and capital cost estimate refinement is in progress. Long-lead items are purchases with the longest delivery times, so placing an order before permit award starts the delivery clock early.

Tendering also has a sequencing purpose. Chief Executive Officer and Director of Lithium Ionic, Blake Hylands, described the goal of the contractor process for the underground portals as securing more than price:

"Ultimately, continue to lock in not just price-wise, but also where we are in the queue, right? We don't want to fall behind because we didn't get in and put our name in line fast enough."

Hylands added that the tender process has narrowed the field of contractors for the portals.

Salinas Cash Extends the Pre-Permit Runway

Lithium Ionic completed the sale of its Salinas group of lithium properties, including the Baixa Grande resource, to PLS Brasil Mineração Ltda., a subsidiary of PLS Group Limited (PLS), and received US$30.0 million in cash at closing, announced on August 25, 2026. A further US$7.5 million is payable on the earlier of a positive final investment decision at PLS's Colina project and December 31, 2029. The company retains a 2.0% royalty on future spodumene sales, and no royalty amounts are payable if no spodumene is produced or sold from Salinas. The deferred payment has a fixed backstop date, while the royalty depends on PLS bringing Salinas spodumene to sale.

The company held approximately C$12 million in cash at March 31, 2026, before the proceeds arrived. Hylands has said that once the permit is in hand and financing partners are engaged, part of the sale cash could go to long-lead items and the mill order, and start operational costs without waiting for the construction financing to close. That sequencing depends on the permit, the same item that gates ground-breaking.

What the Track Record Does Not Yet Cover

Bandeira combines an underground mine with a DMS plant, and each half has a precedent next door. CBL's Cachoeira mine, less than 500 meters away and in production since 1991, mines underground and processes with DMS. Grota do Cirilo processes with DMS, but mines open pit. RTEK's listed record attaches most directly to the plant side through Grota do Cirilo, and the project list does not specify mining methods for the other projects.

The permit is the other open item. The application was submitted in November 2023, and the company's September 2026 corporate presentation lists award of the construction and operation permits as an expected milestone. Hylands identified it as what stands between the company and ground-breaking:

"Obviously, we've got the last bits of the permit to get through here, and that allows us to actually break ground on some of these key items. So, that's probably the biggest thing still there, and I think in the end it unlocks a lot of things for us as well."

Hylands also tied the permit to the last piece of financing. Permit award, portal contractor selection, long-lead orders, and construction financing are the disclosures that will show how far the delivery team's credentials have been applied at Bandeira.

The Investment Thesis for Lithium Ionic

• RTEK International DMCC has advised Lithium Ionic on construction and operational readiness since April 2025, and the company lists Sigma Lithium's Grota do Cirilo project, less than 4 kilometers from Bandeira, as one of that advisory team's successful lithium projects.
• Geotechnical drilling of 1,352 meters, major design packages, a first long-lead order for the main substation transformer, and contractor tendering are complete or underway, while award of the construction and operation permits remains an expected milestone.
• The Salinas sale, announced as complete on August 25, 2026, delivered US$30.0 million in cash at closing, with US$7.5 million deferred to the earlier of a positive final investment decision at PLS's Colina project or December 31, 2029, and a 2.0% royalty on future Salinas spodumene sales retained.
• The September 2025 feasibility study reports a post-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate of US$1.45 billion and initial capital of US$191 million, and refinement of that capital estimate is in progress.
• Management describes the construction permit, applied for in November 2023, as probably the biggest remaining item, and a plant-side track record does not by itself cover Bandeira's underground mine.

The delivery team's credentials are documented for the process plant and for site operations. Those credentials apply to the permit and the underground build, and disclosures on permit award, portal contractor selection, and long-lead orders will show how far that has progressed.

TL;DR

Lithium Ionic has engaged RTEK, whose team's listed projects include the neighboring Grota do Cirilo DMS mine, and an internal delivery team led by Chief Operating Officer Mike Westendorf handles operations and capital projects. Geotechnical drilling, design packages, a transformer order, and contractor tendering are advancing ahead of the permit, and management says part of the US$30.0 million from the Salinas sale could go to long-lead items and the mill order once the permit is in hand. The permit, applied for in November 2023, is what management describes as probably the biggest remaining item.

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