American Battery completes NEPA baseline studies for Tonopah Flats project

American Battery (ABAT) Technology Company completed all of its required baseline studies and submitted all subsequent baseline reports to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Environmental Policy Act review process, a major milestone in the development of its Tonopah Flats Lithium Project, one of the largest critical mineral lithium projects in the United States, one of the largest critical mineral lithium projects in the United States. As with the majority of land in Nevada, the TFLP site is located on land managed by the BLM. As such, this project is required to undergo a federal permitting process in accordance with NEPA and in March 2023 ABTC held a Baseline Needs Assessment meeting with over 40 regulatory agencies and stakeholders from various federal, state, local, and tribal organizations in order to review the overall plan for the project and to identify all requisite environmental analyses and baseline resource inventories that would be required for the permitting and construction of this critical mineral lithium project. This needs assessment identified 21 studies that would be required for this project under 14 categories in order to complete the NEPA review process. The completion of these comprehensive baseline studies represents over two years of dedicated efforts and engagement of many third-party, expert firms. These studies span a wide range of critical areas, including biological, ecological, hydrological, geological, cultural, socio-economical, and others. These baseline studies form a foundation for predicting the mine’s potential impacts, and subsequent NEPA analyses. After over two years of efforts, ABTC has now announced that all of these studies have been completed and reports submitted for review. This step was a critical prerequisite for initiating the formal NEPA review phase, marking a significant milestone in ABTC’s permitting journey for the TFLP.