Century Lithium Corp. (TSX-V:LCE, OTCQX:CYDVF) announced that it has added a lithium carbonate stage at its lithium extraction facility in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, part of its Angel Island Mine.
The company highlighted that before it added this stage, concentrated lithium solutions from the pilot plant were treated by Saltworks at their Richmond, British Columbia facility to produce battery-quality lithium carbonate.
It said that during the first few days of the startup of its lithium carbonate stage, the pilot plant treated 200 liters of concentrated lithium solution and produced 20 kilograms of high-grade lithium carbonate onsite.
"At this point in time, the ability to make lithium carbonate at our pilot plant is an important step forward, in line with recommendations from our recently completed Feasibility Study" Century Lithium CEO Bill Willoughby commented.
He added that, despite the drop in lithium prices over the last year, domestic production is still key to the security of supply in the US.
“While it is becoming well known that a vast amount of lithium is contained within the claystone deposits of Nevada, the benefit in unlocking these resources is the ability to produce a battery quality lithium product onsite and thereby reducing or eliminating the need for downstream processing,” Willoughby said.
The company noted that it continues to work at its pilot plant using its patent-pending process for chloride leaching and Direct Lithium Extraction to identify ways to make the extraction of lithium from clay more economical.