ILC Critical Minerals Ltd. Does Not Exercise Option to Buy Lepidico Mauritius Ltd.

About this update from Ilc Critical Minerals Limited

ILC Critical Minerals Ltd. Does Not Exercise Option to Buy Lepidico Mauritius Ltd.Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 4, 2026) - ILC Critical Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: ILC) (OTCQB: ILHMF) (FSE: IAH0) ("ILC" or the "Company") announces that it has not exercised, nor has it been able to extend, its option to buy 100% of Lepidico (Mauritius) Ltd. ("Lepidico Mauritius") from Lepidico (Canada) Inc. ("Lepidico Canada") which expired on February 27, 2026. This company controls 80% of the Karibib lithium, rubidium and cesium project in Namibia.The ILC board had carefully considered the financial and legal risks of the transaction, and supported the exercise of the option. The board had the required funding ready. However TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") did not give the required approval in time to ILC that would have enabled ILC to complete the transaction. It might have been possible to extend the expiry date of the option further, but this would have required ILC to provide additional working capital to Lepidico Canada. The TSXV went further and also prevented ILC from lending more money for working capital to Lepidico Canada. This had the practical effect on ILC that the option could neither be exercised nor extended. This is a setback for ILC's plans in Southern Africa because Karibib has a large lithium resource, the biggest known rubidium resource in Africa, and enough cesium for about one year of world use, and it had already reached Definitive Feasibility Study stage under JORC in 2020. Such advanced stage development projects are hard to find, and the board believed after months of work on the transaction that it could have added considerable shareholder value albeit with some risk. Lepidico Canada's board felt that it was not able to continue further as a viable company without the extra funds needed for its working capital needs. While ILC's board would have been willing for ILC to offer this, the block by TSXV made this impossible to offer. As a result Lepidico Canada has now changed ownership. There is still a possibility of ILC being offered involvement in this project, in which case the ILC board would allow an extended period for TSXV's review processes to complete in such a manner that gives a greater chance of allowing a favourable outcome from TSXV. Obviously however such an outcome cannot be assumed.By order of the board Jo...

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