Century Lithium moves demonstration plant to Tonopah for Clayton Valley project

Century Lithium is shifting its demonstration plant to Tonopah, turning the Tonopah Airport site into the company’s next local base of operations as it advances the Clayton Valley lithium project in neighboring Esmeralda County. The relocation brings more than equipment: Century Lithium said a larger assay and metallurgical laboratory, battery-materials research and development, and project support and administration will be housed at the 20-acre site.

The company said on April 23 that equipment relocation was underway, a new process building was under construction, and an application for a Nevada Water Pollution Control Permit was in progress. Commissioning is targeted for the second half of 2026. Century Lithium had already begun moving the plant to Tonopah in October 2025, saying the change would consolidate operations, improve logistics and reduce costs while supporting development of Angel Island, its broader lithium project.

The demonstration plant ran for five years in Amargosa Valley, where Century Lithium said it produced battery-grade lithium carbonate and validated the integrated chlor-alkali flowsheet the company plans to use at Angel Island. After the move, the company said it will conduct structured metallurgical testing recommended in its 2026 feasibility study, including full test runs on claystone zones 1 and 2.

Angel Island sits in Esmeralda County, next to Albemarle Corporation’s Silver Peak mine, and Century Lithium describes the area as part of the United States’ only producing lithium basin. The project has also been added to the federal FAST-41 permitting dashboard, giving it transparency status under the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. Century Lithium’s project initiator on the dashboard is Cypress Holdings (NV), Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

The updated 2026 feasibility study puts the project’s after-tax net present value at $4.01 billion and its after-tax internal rate of return at 27.4%. It estimates average life-of-mine production of about 26,500 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate, average operating costs of $4,389 per tonne and a mine life exceeding 60 years based on proven and probable reserves.

Century Lithium also says its patent-pending process relies on salt-based reagents instead of sulfur-derived reagents, leaving it less exposed to swings in sulfur and sulfuric acid prices. For Tonopah, the near-term payoff is concrete: a relocated pilot plant, more technical activity at the airport site and a project office that will keep the Clayton Valley buildout tied to Nye County as the company pushes toward its next permitting and testing milestones.