Berkeley Energia Advances Critical Minerals Projects and Pursues $1.25 Billion Arbitration Claim Against Spain

Berkeley Energia’s March 2026 quarterly report is really about two things: proving there is something valuable at the Conchas critical minerals project, and keeping pressure on Spain over the stalled Salamanca uranium project.

For retail investors, that makes this a more interesting update than the usual quarterly housekeeping note. There is proper technical progress at Conchas, a very large arbitration claim moving forward, and a balance sheet that still gives the company breathing room.

Berkeley Energia quarterly report: the key numbers investors need to know

Item	Figure	Why it matters
Cash reserves	A$64 million	Strong funding position for exploration, arbitration and corporate costs
Debt	None	Reduces financial risk
Net operating cash outflow for the quarter	A$2.815 million	Shows current cash burn
Arbitration related expenses in the quarter	A$1.835 million	A major part of spending this quarter
Exploration and evaluation spend	A$759,000	Direct spend on advancing projects
Funding runway	>10 quarters	Plenty of time at the current run-rate
Arbitration claim against Spain	US$1.25 billion	Potentially huge upside, but highly uncertain

Berkeley Energia Conchas lithium and rubidium project: why this looks like the real operational story

The best part of the RNS is the continued progress at Conchas in western Spain. Berkeley says the project hosts shallow, thick zones of lithium and rubidium mineralisation, with tin, caesium, beryllium, niobium and tantalum also present in a muscovitic leucogranite unit.

That matters because shallow mineralisation is generally easier and cheaper to mine than deep mineralisation, all else being equal. Berkeley is not yet talking about a formal resource at Conchas, but it is clearly building towards one.

The existing drilling already looks encouraging on paper. Earlier work included 25m at 0.56% Li2O and 0.22% Rb2O from surface, while follow-up drilling in 2024 returned intersections such as 61m at 0.50% Li2O and 0.21% Rb2O from surface, and 14m at 0.95% Li2O and 0.39% Rb2O from 40m.

What I like here is the consistency. Berkeley says all drill holes intersected mineralisation hosted in the same geological unit, which is exactly what you want to see at this stage.

Why the metallurgy at Conchas could be more important than the drill hits

Metallurgy is the science of getting the valuable mineral out of the rock. Plenty of deposits look great in the ground but disappoint when you try to process them, so these test results matter.

Berkeley’s preliminary test work showed lithium recoveries of 78% overall and rubidium recoveries of 63% overall using flotation on -150µm material. Flotation is a standard mineral processing method that separates valuable particles from waste.

There was also a useful result from magnetic separation on coarser material, where 77% of the lithium and 58% of the rubidium reported to the magnetic product. In plain English, the ore may respond to a sensible processing route using magnetic separation for coarse material and flotation for finer material.

That is a positive technical sign. It does not prove a mine is coming, but it does reduce one of the biggest early-stage risks.

Geology, 3D modelling and ERT surveys are reducing exploration risk

The company also completed 3D modelling of drilling data and a broader geological model integrating mapping, soil geochemistry, drilling and geophysics. That is a precursor to resource estimation, so it is a meaningful step rather than admin fluff.

On top of that, Electrical Resistivity Tomography, or ERT, helped map the mineralised host rock across the project. The survey covered nine profiles totalling 5,820 linear metres and generated about 35,900 measurement points.

Berkeley says this has refined the mineralised zone boundaries and de-risked future drill targeting. Again, that is useful progress, but investors should remember the missing piece – there is still no maiden resource estimate for Conchas in this update.

Rubidium exposure makes Conchas a bit different from the average lithium explorer

One standout feature in this RNS is Berkeley’s emphasis on rubidium. The company notes that rubidium is a critical raw material used in defence, aerospace, communications, medical and renewable energy applications, and that the US and Japan classify it as a critical mineral.

That makes Conchas more interesting than a plain vanilla lithium story. If Berkeley can eventually show commercial recoveries and meaningful volumes of both lithium and rubidium, the project could have a broader strategic angle than many junior explorers.

Still, this is where caution matters. Volumes, average grades and grade distributions have been assessed internally through modelling, but the company has not yet published a resource estimate for Conchas. So the investment case is improving, but it is still early-stage.

Berkeley Energia’s US$1.25 billion arbitration claim against Spain: big headline, long road

The other major headline is the legal fight over Salamanca. Berkeley says it filed its Memorial of Claim with ICSID in February 2026, seeking compensation in the order of US$1.25 billion over alleged breaches of the Energy Charter Treaty.

ICSID is the World Bank-backed forum used for investor-state disputes. A Memorial of Claim is essentially the company’s formal, detailed legal case, backed by witness statements and expert reports.

This is obviously a huge number relative to Berkeley’s size, and that is why the market pays attention. But investors should not treat it like money in the bank.

Spain has already requested bifurcation, meaning it wants jurisdictional objections heard first as a preliminary matter. That can slow things down and raises the possibility of a long, technical legal process before the merits are fully argued.

My view is simple: the arbitration is genuine upside, but it is uncertain upside. It is worth having, but it should not be the only reason to own the shares.

Salamanca uranium project and Spanish nuclear policy: the backdrop is getting more supportive

Berkeley is still using the quarterlies to remind investors that Salamanca has strategic value. The project hosts a mineral resource of 89.3 Mlb of uranium, with 12.3 Mlb Measured, 47.5 Mlb Indicated and 29.6 Mlb Inferred.

The wider nuclear backdrop in Spain and Europe also seems to be shifting in Berkeley’s favour, at least politically. The Almaraz nuclear plant owners have asked to extend operations to June 2030, the Juzbado nuclear fuel plant received a favourable report for a ten-year renewal, and the European Commission has urged member states to avoid premature nuclear closures.

That all helps the narrative that domestic or regional uranium supply still matters. It does not solve Berkeley’s permitting problems, but it does make Salamanca look strategically relevant rather than stranded.

The new cooperation agreement with the Municipality of Retortillo is also helpful at a local level. Still, local support is not the same thing as national permitting approval, and that distinction matters.

Berkeley Energia cash position: strong enough to keep moving

Financially, Berkeley remains in decent shape. Cash and cash equivalents ended the quarter at A$63.996 million, down from A$68.408 million at the start of the period, with part of the reduction coming from a A$1.594 million foreign exchange movement.

There is no debt, no mining or production revenue, and current spending is manageable. Based on the company’s own figures, it has more than 10 quarters of funding available at the current level of outgoings.

That is important because it means Berkeley is not under immediate pressure to raise cash. For an exploration and litigation-heavy story, that is a genuine positive.

My take on this Berkeley Energia RNS for retail investors

Overall, I’d call this a good quarterly, with one important caveat. The Conchas project is moving forward nicely and ticking off the right technical boxes, but it is not yet at the stage where investors can hang their hat on a published resource or economics.

• Positive: promising metallurgy, improving geological model, strong cash position, no debt.
• Positive: arbitration claim is advancing and remains a potentially material source of value.
• Positive: the European nuclear backdrop looks more supportive for Salamanca.
• Negative: Conchas is still early-stage and has no disclosed resource estimate yet.
• Negative: Salamanca permitting remains unresolved.
• Negative: the US$1.25 billion arbitration claim could take a long time and may not succeed.

If you strip away the headlines, the core message is this: Berkeley is no longer just waiting around for Salamanca. It is building a second leg through critical minerals at Conchas, and that gives the story a bit more substance than before.

For me, that is the biggest takeaway from this RNS.