Century Lithium CEO Bill Willoughby joined Steve Darling from Proactive to announce positive results from ongoing test work evaluating the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from primary lithium leach solutions generated at the company’s Angel Island lithium project in Nevada. Initial testing shows that high REE recoveries can be achieved without any negative impact on lithium recovery, marking a significant technical advancement for the project. Willoughby told Proactive that producing a secondary REE-rich product could materially strengthen the overall economics of the Angel Island project while also aligning the company with broader U.S. government and industry initiatives aimed at securing resilient North American critical-mineral supply chains. Century Lithium has previously confirmed that leach solutions derived from Angel Island claystone contain meaningful concentrations of several high-value rare earth elements, including dysprosium, gadolinium, neodymium, and praseodymium. The solutions also contain elevated levels of critical metals such as scandium, lanthanum, and cerium, along with the presence of cesium. Recent ion-exchange test work achieved greater than 97% recovery of the identified REEs and critical metals, excluding cesium, while maintaining complete selectivity against lithium. This lithium selectivity is essential for preserving the integrity of the company’s downstream lithium recovery process, which includes ultrafiltration, direct lithium extraction, and subsequent steps required to produce high-purity lithium carbonate. Willoughby emphasized that these results represent a major technical milestone, demonstrating that REE extraction and recovery can be integrated into the Angel Island flowsheet without compromising Century Lithium’s core lithium production process. Century Lithium believes these advancements position the company to potentially become a dual supplier of both lithium and rare earth elements to North American critical-mineral markets. Management noted that this dual-output capability could significantly enhance long-term project value, strengthen supply-chain resilience, and further support the strategic importance of Angel Island in the electrification and advanced manufacturing sectors. #proactiveinvestors #centurylithiumcorp #tsxv #lce #otcqx #cydvf #mining #oricaspecialtymining#rareearthmetals #ree #mining #AngelIsland #LithiumProject #RareEarthElements
