American Critical Resources (ACR), a subsidiary of Controlled Thermal Resources Holdings Inc. (CTR), has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Plum Acquisition Corp. IV, a publicly listed special purpose acquisition company, to pursue a proposed business combination.
If completed, the transaction would result in the merged entity being listed on a U.S. national securities exchange.
ACR was established to advance CTR’s flagship Hell’s Kitchen project at California’s Salton Sea, widely regarded as one of the world’s most productive geothermal lithium resources and a strategically important asset for U.S. energy and critical minerals supply. The project is designed to deliver around 50MW of renewable baseload power and up to 100,000 metric tonnes of lithium carbonate annually, developed across four stages.
Backed by a network of strategic partners, the Hell’s Kitchen development has already attracted more than US$285mn in private capital. The project has also successfully proven its direct minerals extraction technology, supported by a Definitive Feasibility Study validated by Baker Hughes.
In addition to power generation and lithium production, ongoing research and development efforts aim to extract other critical minerals identified by the Idaho National Laboratory. These include potash, zinc, manganese, rubidium, cesium and rare earth elements, all of which are considered essential to U.S. national security and industrial resilience.
The proposed transaction would combine ACR’s project pipeline with Plum IV’s experienced management team, which has a strong track record in SPAC transactions, operational scale-up and capital markets structuring. The deal reflects increasing alignment between U.S. government policy objectives and private sector investment to reinforce domestic energy and critical minerals capacity.
Through the combination, ACR expects to accelerate project development, enhance its balance sheet and gain access to public market funding to advance initiatives supporting U.S. energy security, manufacturing growth and defence supply chains.
Rod Colwell, CEO of CTR, said: “ACR is positioned at the center of U.S. energy dominance and national security priorities. Hell's Kitchen has the resources to deliver baseload energy and critical minerals that will supercharge domestic supply chains and expand U.S. leadership in low-carbon minerals exports. After a decade of development, we are ready to deploy and are delighted to join forces with Plum IV to unlock this vital U.S. resource.”
Kanishka Roy, CEO of Plum IV, added: “We are pleased to partner with ACR, a company at the forefront of strengthening the U.S. supply chain by delivering critical minerals and renewable energy solutions. We believe this proposed transaction represents a significant opportunity to support a strategic U.S. initiative while creating long-term value for shareholders.”