Leachate from TLC, a lithium sedimentary deposit located near the regional hub and county seat in the town of Tonopah, Nevada, was put through a base-case process to remove impurities before precipitating lithium carbonate successfully.

"We are proud of the team having accomplished the milestone of producing lithium carbonate from our TLC ore leachate. Although at bench scale, this is confirmation that we are on the right path," said Michael Kobler, chief executive of American Lithium.

The company will now begin a testing program to optimise each step of the process to improve economics and reduce waste.

"The process we have currently developed works, but continued process testing will explore each stage in detail to maximise the economics of the overall process," said Dr Jarrett Quinn, lithium mining veteran, who the company has retained as a metallurgical consultant.

"Simultaneously, we will be investigating potentially game-changing and alternative technologies to evolve the process further." 

The testing programme is intended to produce design information required for the construction of a continuously operating pilot plant planned for 2021/22.