American Battery begins commissioning of lithium pilot plant in Nevada

American Battery completed the construction and started commissioning of its lithium hydroxide pilot plant. The company has been developing its Tonopah Flats Lithium Project with over 10,000 acres of lithium-bearing claystone resource which has been assessed to be one of the largest lithium resources in the U.S. The construction and commissioning of this pilot plant enables American Battery to demonstrate its technologies for accessing the lithium housed in its unconventional resource, Tonopah Lithium Flats Project, in an integrated and continuous system, and to generate large amounts of battery grade lithium hydroxide for delivery to customers for qualifications and evaluation. The construction and operation of this pilot demonstration plant are supported by a competitively awarded grant from the Department of Energy for this $4.5M effort. Testing and validation of the lithium hydroxide from the claystone material processed at this plant will be performed by prospective customers such as automotive OEMs, battery manufacturers, and cathode manufacturers. ABTC plans to further evolve this technology by constructing a commercial-scale 30,000 tons lithium hydroxide per year refinery utilizing this system design directly at its TFLP property.