Prepares for Commissioning of Commercial-Scale Battery Recycling Operations, and Engagement of Global Construction Firm for Commercial-Scale Lithium Hydroxide Refinery
RENO, Nev., May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) (OTCQX: ABML), an American critical battery materials company that is commercializing both its primary battery minerals manufacturing and secondary minerals lithium-ion battery recycling technologies, has announced financial results from its third fiscal quarter 2023, ending on March 31, 2023.
The company’s Q3 FY2023 financial report shows continued and accelerated advancement of bringing new, domestic battery metal products to market. As the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) reshapes global supply for battery metals, ABTC is advantageously and aggressively commercializing in its three core businesses of lithium-ion battery recycling, battery resource mineral development, and battery metals manufacturing.
During this quarter, ABTC accelerated and expanded its lithium-ion battery recycling business by securing an additional manufacturing facility, which is a move-in ready 137,000 square foot facility that was previously used for the recycling of lead-acid batteries. While all of the legacy processing equipment has been removed, the facility is already equipped with the necessary infrastructure and utility systems necessary to implement ABTC’s internally developed lithium-ion battery recycling technologies at commercial scale. The ABTC construction and operations teams began moving in and installing its processing equipment in April and the company anticipates commissioning of operations in Summer 2023. A term sheet agreement has already been executed for a $20M pre-payment purchase of some of the facilities’ first recycled metal products.
Also in this quarter, ABTC published its maiden resource report for its Tonopah Flats Lithium Project near Tonopah, Nevada. ABTC has been exploring and evaluating this lithium-bearing sedimentary claystone deposit for the past year and this SK-1300 compliant resource report, which was written by the third-party firm RESPEC, LLC acting as the Qualified Person (QP), concluded that this is one of the largest known lithium resources in the United States.
In order to bring this immense lithium resource to market, ABTC performed a competitive bid process for the design, construction, and commissioning of a commercial scale lithium hydroxide refinery based on its internally developed processing technologies. Proposals were submitted by many of the premier engineering, procurement, and construction firms in the world, and after several months of downselects and due diligence the ABTC team selected the EPC firm Black & Veatch for the contract to construct this first-of-kind commercial refinery. The initial phase of this project has a budget of approximately $115M and is supported by a competitively awarded grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Key financial highlights from the third fiscal quarter of 2023 include:
- Cash was $12.6 million as of March 31, 2023
- Cash spent for the acquisition of property, construction, equipment, and water rights for the nine months ended March 31, 2023 of $18 million including a deposit of $6.1 million related to the acquisition of equipment and facilities on March 1, 2023
- Total operating costs for the nine months ended March 31, 2023 were $14.4 million, down 47% year–over–year, including a reduction of $12.5 million as it relates to the associated expenses for shares issued for services and stock-based compensation expense when compared to the nine months ended March 31, 2022
- Cash used in operations for the nine months ended March 31, 2023 was $10.8 million, up 49% year–over–year
- ABTC invested $3.5 million in research and development for the nine months ended March 31, 2023, up $2.8 million when compared to the same period in the prior year
- Research and development expenses for the nine months ended March 31, 2023 were partially offset by approximately $0.70 million in government grant awards
ABTC is in final contract negotiations with the U.S. DOE for its two most recently awarded competitive grants, both aimed to further develop ABTC’s validated advanced processes for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries and for its first-of-kind commercial refinery which will manufacture lithium hydroxide from claystone resources.
One of ABTC’s core missions is continuous innovation and improvement of advanced and sustainable battery recycling and battery metals manufacturing processes that keep pace with new battery technologies and conserve resources, reduce environmental impacts, and are economically viable. As one of five companies throughout the US selected for competitive funding under the battery recycling portion of the ‘Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second Life Applications’ opportunity from the U.S. DOE, ABTC, along with its partners, will validate, test, and deploy three new disruptive advanced separation and processing technologies to further enhance the economic competitiveness, reduce environmental impact, and re-integrate an even greater percentage of the constituent components to the domestic battery manufacturing market.
About American Battery Technology Company
American Battery Technology Company is uniquely positioned to supply low-cost, low-environmental impact, and domestically sourced battery metals through its three divisions: lithium-ion battery recycling, primary battery metal extraction technologies, and primary resources development.
American Battery Technology Company has built a clean technology platform that is used to provide a key source of domestically manufactured critical and strategic battery metals to help meet the near insatiable demand from the electric vehicle, electrical grid storage, and consumer electronics industries. This ESG-principled platform works to create a closed-loop circular economy for battery metals that champions ethical and environmentally sustainable sourcing of critical and strategic materials.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are “forward-looking statements.” Although the American Battery Technology Company’s (the “Company) management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company’s future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, interpretations or reinterpretations of geologic information, unfavorable exploration results, inability to obtain permits required for future exploration, development or production, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; fluctuating mineral and commodity prices, final investment approval and the ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms or at all. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2022. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release.
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SOURCE American Battery Technology Company
