Century Lithium Corp. (TSX-V:LCE, OTCQX:CYDVF) said Thursday its testing at the 100%-owned Angel Island Lithium Project in Nevada has revealed potentially significant levels of rare earth elements (REEs) that could become a strategically important by-product alongside lithium production.
Using a patent-pending chloride-based process combined with targeted ion-exchange, Century Lithium reported high recoveries of REEs from a 500-tonne bulk sample of claystone from the project.
The sample contained 0.024% total rare earth oxides (TREO) and 1,101 parts per million (ppm) lithium.
Bill Willoughby, CEO of Century Lithium, said the results were encouraging. “Our ability to recover these elements efficiently from solution and in parallel with lithium is a significant accomplishment by our team,” he said in a statement. “At the scale of our planned operations, these levels of REE would contribute meaningfully to North America’s critical mineral supply chain and revenue streams from Angel Island.”
The tests showed that approximately 75% of the REEs were light rare earth elements, with the remaining 25% comprising yttrium and heavy rare earth elements. Chloride leaching yielded 210 milligrams per liter (mg/l) lithium and 36 mg/l TREO in solution, while ion-exchange testing achieved recoveries of nearly 100% for most rare earth elements, including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, yttrium, and scandium.
Globally, ion-adsorption clay deposits in southern China and Southeast Asia dominate heavy REE production, with grades ranging from 0.03% to 0.15% TREO. In the US, projects under development in Wyoming and Texas report TREO grades between 0.05% and 0.20%, indicating that even modest concentrations can be significant when processed at scale.
Century Lithium plans to process 2.75 to 5.5 million tonnes of claystone annually during Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Angel Island, generating 10 to 20 million tonnes of leach solution per year.
The company is continuing work on its updated feasibility study and advancing permitting for the project. It has not yet assessed the economic impact of REE recovery.