Clontarf Energy Reports Progress on Bolivian Lithium Strategy Amidst Chairman's Passing

Clontarf Energy preliminary results: Bolivia lithium progress matters more than the profit and loss account

Clontarf Energy’s 2025 preliminary results are really a progress report on its Bolivian lithium ambitions, wrapped inside a set of small-cap exploration accounts. The headline financials are modest, but the bigger story is that the company believes political change in Bolivia could finally open the door to private-sector lithium development.

There is also a very human note here. The company confirmed the death of chairman and co-founder David Horgan on 28 October 2025, with James Finn stepping in as Interim Chairman while a formal search takes place. For a company of this size, that sort of loss is significant both personally and strategically.

My read is fairly simple: this is a high-risk, early-stage story that has gained some political momentum, but it is still nowhere near cash generation. Investors should focus much more on licensing, pilot testing and funding than on this year’s reported loss.

Bolivia lithium strategy: why Clontarf thinks the opportunity is improving

Clontarf says the big change is political. In November 2025, Rodrigo Paz Pereira was elected President of Bolivia on a platform that included opening strategic sectors such as mining, hydrocarbons, lithium and energy to foreign private investment.

That matters because Bolivia has huge lithium resources but has struggled for years to turn them into commercially viable production. Clontarf points out that Bolivia holds around 21 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, or LCE, at Salar de Uyuni, yet it is still not deemed commercially viable by the US Geological Survey.

The company is now engaging with the new president of state lithium group YLB, Guillermo Trigo Nagel. Its immediate aim is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with YLB to obtain large bulk brine samples from Coipasa and Uyuni, which would then be shipped to its partner’s pilot plant in India.

Why the bulk sample agreement is the key short-term catalyst

This is the part investors should watch most closely. Without bulk samples, Clontarf cannot properly test the process at a larger scale, and without successful testing, the whole Bolivia investment case remains largely theoretical.

The company says it has already sourced the Intermediate Bulk Containers needed for transport. Once exported, it expects samples to arrive at the Indian plant in roughly two months, although the actual volume is still to be agreed with YLB and the timetable is subject to permitting and applicable rules.

Direct Lithium Extraction explained in plain English

Clontarf is backing Direct Lithium Extraction, or DLE. In simple terms, that means pulling lithium out of brine using a more targeted industrial process instead of relying on traditional evaporation ponds that can be slower, less efficient and more water-intensive.

The specific technology here is NEXT-ChemX’s ion-Targeting Direct Extraction, or iTDE. Clontarf says the process can extract targeted ions at close to 100% efficiency, works continuously rather than in batches, uses lower energy and could also recover by-products such as magnesium and potassium.

That all sounds attractive on paper. The catch, and it is a big one, is that commercial success still needs to be proven in Bolivia at scale.

Clontarf and NEXT-ChemX JV: exclusive Bolivia rights, but still pre-licence and pre-revenue

Clontarf’s 50:50 joint venture with NEXT-ChemX remains a central asset. The JV holds exclusive rights to market, test and deploy the technology in Bolivia, and Clontarf’s investment in that JV was carried at £887,655 at 31 December 2025.

But the accounts are refreshingly blunt about the risk. The group says it has not yet secured extraction licences or contractual rights to exploit lithium resources in Bolivia, and the JV has not commenced commercial operations.

That means the project is still at a pre-licence, pre-development stage. The company itself says the outcome is “inherently binary”, which is finance-speak for this either turning into something valuable or potentially being impaired heavily, even to nil.

Clontarf’s production targets are ambitious

The proposed rollout is bold. Clontarf talks about first processing bulk samples in India, then deploying a 500 tonne per year scalable pilot plant in Bolivia, followed by additional plants of about 5,000 tonnes per year across up to five locations at six-month intervals.

The long-term target is 150,000 tonnes of LCE per year by 2030. That is a very large ambition for a company with no current lithium production, no Bolivian extraction licence and limited cash, so I would treat it as a strategic aspiration rather than a forecast.

Clontarf Energy financial results 2025: lower losses, but cash and net assets moved the wrong way

On the face of it, the income statement improved. Clontarf’s loss from operations narrowed to £258,828 from £765,432, helped by administrative expenses falling sharply to £85,219 from £591,823.

That is the good news. The less comfortable bit is the balance sheet, where cash fell materially and net assets shrank.

Key figure	2025	2024
Loss from operations	£258,828	£765,432
Cash and cash equivalents	£374,874	£818,212
Net assets	£290,035	£829,218
Current liabilities	£1,319,710	£1,410,957
Net current liabilities	£944,836	£579,262
Directors’ remuneration owed at year end	£425,824	£455,824

Cash outflow from operating activities was £442,009, almost unchanged from £441,752 in 2024. In other words, this business is still consuming cash and still relies on access to fresh capital because it is not revenue-generating.

The company also explicitly flags a material uncertainty over going concern. That does not mean collapse is imminent, but it does mean the board is acknowledging that ongoing funding is essential.

Ghana oil and gas update: still waiting on Tano 2A ratification

Clontarf’s Ghana asset remains stuck in a familiar pattern. The Petroleum Agreement for the Tano 2A Block still awaits ratification by the Ghanaian government, and because of that delay the company took another £173,609 impairment against the historic expenditure.

That is the same impairment charge as in the prior year. The carrying value of the Ghana intangible asset fell to £347,216 from £520,825.

Clontarf says it remains committed to Ghana and hopes to finalise acreage for exploration in the Tano Basin. That may yet prove useful, but right now Ghana looks more like a waiting game than a near-term value driver.

What this RNS means for Clontarf shareholders

The positive take is that Bolivia may be becoming more investable just as Clontarf has a technology partner and a defined testing plan. If YLB signs off on bulk samples and pilot testing goes well, the story could move forward meaningfully later in 2026.

The negative take is just as important. Clontarf still has no commercial lithium production, no disclosed revenue, no Bolivian extraction licence, falling cash, net current liabilities of £944,836 and a stated going concern uncertainty.

So this remains a classic frontier exploration share. The upside could be substantial if Bolivia reforms quickly and the DLE process works at scale, but the execution risk is very high and funding risk is very real.

My verdict on Clontarf Energy’s 2025 preliminary results

I’d call this cautiously interesting rather than outright exciting. The strategic direction in Bolivia looks better than it did a year ago, and the company has given investors a clearer roadmap for what needs to happen next.

But this is still a promise story, not a production story. Until Clontarf secures bulk samples, proves the process in a meaningful pilot setting and locks in the regulatory path, the investment case rests more on potential than proof.

For existing shareholders, the next updates on YLB engagement and pilot sample shipments matter far more than this year’s smaller accounting loss. That is where the real value trigger sits.