Angel Island moves into federal review

Century Lithium Corp. is worth following because its Angel Island lithium project in Nevada has moved from feasibility work into formal federal permitting. As of 4 November 2026, the company has filed a mine plan of operations with the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and a Nevada reclamation permit application. A federal dashboard indicates completion by 4 February 2028. The company is pre-revenue, so its prospects rest on permitting, financing and lithium prices.

Century Lithium trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV:LCE), on OTCQX as CYDVF and in Frankfurt as C1Z.

The Business and the project

Century Lithium is a development-stage company focused solely on Angel Island, a sedimentary claystone lithium deposit it owns outright in Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County. According to the plan of operations announced on 9 September 2026, the project covers 5,379 acres of BLM-administered land under federal Mining claims. Expected surface disturbance is about 2,364 acres.

The proposed operation is a shallow open-pit mine with six pit phases. No drilling or blasting is expected. Processing on site would produce battery-grade lithium carbonate through agitated tank leaching, direct lithium extraction and crystallisation in a closed-loop circuit that recycles water. A chlor-alkali plant on site would make the hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide the process needs,, with surplus sodium hydroxide sold on the open market. Power Demand would be about 53 MW in phase one and 106 MW in phase two, and the company expects around 275 full-time operating staff.

What the 2026 feasibility study says

On 23 February 2026, Century Lithium published an updated feasibility study with an effective date of 3 January 2026, and it filed the NI 43-101 technical report on 9 March. The study's base case gives an after-tax net present value of $4.01 billion at an 8% discount rate and an after-tax internal rate of return of 27.4%. It assumes a lithium carbonate price of $24,000 per tonne. Initial Capital for phase one is estimated at $997 million, down from $1.537 billion in the 2024 study, with a further $660 million for the phase two expansion.

Throughput would start at about 7,500 tonnes per day and expand to 15,000 tonnes per day in year five. Average output over the life of the mine would be about 26,500 tonnes a year of lithium carbonate. Proven and Probable Reserves of 287.65 million tonnes at 1,149 ppm lithium support a mine life of more than 60 years, although the economic model uses a 40-year schedule. Operating costs are estimated at $4,389 per tonne of lithium carbonate, against $8,223 in the 2024 study. Projected sodium hydroxide sales are equivalent to $5,393 per tonne. These are study estimates, not results.

Recent corporate developments

Permitting has advanced in stages. Century Lithium signed a memorandum of understanding with the BLM on 22 April 2026 that sets out each party's role under the National Environmental Policy Act, and it submitted a draft plan of operations in early May. It filed the final plan on 3 September. Angel Island is listed as a FAST-41 transparency project. A 30-day BLM completeness review comes first, followed by an environmental impact statement, public scoping and a record of decision. The company says state, local and water pollution control permitting are running in parallel.

There have been other technical and corporate steps. In April Todd Fayram was appointed chief technical officer. In July it said lithium carbonate from Angel Island had been made into lithium metal and tested in battery cells under a US Army small business research programme. Dr Corby Anderson succeeded Bryan Disher as board chair on 14 July. On 22 September the company described plans for a separate merchant chlor-alkali plant in the western United States, with initial chlorine capacity of about 300 short tons per day. It reported eight non-binding memoranda of understanding with potential customers and is evaluating sites in Nevada and Utah. The Annual General Meeting is set for 25 November 2026, where Dr Cormac O'Laoire stands for election and Mr Disher retires from the board.

Funding, cash and dividends

Century Lithium's last major financing was a brokered offering under the listed issuer financing exemption, closed on 16 March 2026. It raised C$7.0 million by issuing 14,893,616 units at C$0.47. Each unit included a five-year Warrant at C$0.65. The company said it would mainly use the money for the next phase of technical and permitting work, along with general working capital.

The September release showed 180,528,497 shares outstanding and a Market Capitalisation of roughly C$49.6 million at C$0.275. That is a small fraction of the study's estimated initial capital, so construction would need substantial outside funding. Century Lithium pays no dividend.

Industry backdrop and key risks

Demand for lithium is driven mainly by batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage, and US policy has favoured domestic Supply of critical minerals. Lithium prices, however, have been volatile in recent years, and the project's Economics are highly sensitive to the $24,000-per-tonne price assumption. Claystone deposits are less proven commercially than brines or hard rock, so scale-up problems could raise costs or cause delays.

Other risks include the length of the federal environmental review and any challenges to it, power and water connections, the commercial viability of selling sodium hydroxide, and the dilution that could come with future financings.

Milestones to watch

The milestones the company has disclosed are the outcome of the BLM's completeness review and the start of the environmental impact statement process, including a notice of intent in the Federal Register. Others are progress on state permits, the 25 November annual meeting, and decisions on a site for the merchant chlor-alkali plant. Updated interim statements showing the cash runway, and any project financing or partner, would also be significant.