Nevada Lithium Breakthrough Could Lower Costs and Boost U.S. Supply

Century Lithium is making progress at its Angel Island project in Nevada, with new test results showing their process for extracting lithium is working better than expected. The company has been running a full-scale test facility, known as a Demonstration Plant, to try out improved ways of pulling lithium from clay-rich ground near Silver Peak.

In recent tests, Century worked with Amalgamated Research, LLC (ARi) to upgrade its Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) method. Between November 2024 and January 2025, the system recovered more than 91% of the lithium from the test material—well above industry averages. The process also reduced unwanted elements like sodium, which helps make the final product purer and easier to refine into battery-grade material.

Additional improvements using special membranes helped concentrate the lithium even further after extraction, which can reduce the energy and chemicals needed in later steps. So far, the plant has also been able to produce lithium carbonate with 99.87% purity, which is close to what's needed for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Big Picture: Lower Costs and U.S. Battery Supply

These gains could have a real impact on the cost of producing lithium in the United States. Century Lithium believes the improved extraction process may lower the amount of equipment and chemicals needed, which would make the project cheaper to build and operate over time.

The company is currently testing whether its lithium carbonate can be used in lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries—one of the key battery types for EVs and renewable energy storage. At the same time, they're exploring a new way to treat the local clay that could reduce how much acid is used in the process, which would also be better for the environment.