U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Audrey Robertson joins federal and state leaders for a tour of DOE-supported technologies advancing battery recycling, domestic lithium production, and U.S. critical minerals supply chains
U.S. Department of Energy Leaders Tour American Battery Technology Company’s Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Plant and Tonopah Flats Lithium Project Demonstration Plant
U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Audrey Robertson Examines Lithium-Bearing Nevada Claystone Materials with Ryan Melsert at American Battery Technology Company
Reno, Nev., Aug. 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — American Battery Technology Company (NASDAQ: ABAT), an integrated critical minerals company advancing domestic lithium resources and battery recycling technologies, hosted senior federal and state leaders for a tour of its commercial-scale battery recycling facility and domestic claystone to lithium hydroxide demonstration operations near Reno, Nevada. Participants included U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Audrey Robertson; Rachael Overbey, Chief of Staff for DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation; Burt Thomas, Director of the Office of Advanced Mining and Mineral Production Technologies within DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation; and Gracie Garrett, Governor Lombardo’s Policy Advisor on Natural Resources for the State of Nevada.
The visit gave federal and state leaders a firsthand look at innovative technologies, supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, that are moving into operating environments and helping expand domestic sources of critical battery materials. During the tour, company leaders showcased American Battery Technology Company’s first-of-kind commercial lithium-ion battery recycling facility, its claystone-to-lithium hydroxide pilot plant using material from the Tonopah Flats Lithium Project, and infrastructure supporting future commercial-scale expansion.
The tour underscored the company’s progress advancing multiple DOE-supported initiatives from research and development through pilot-scale validation and commercial deployment. Across both business units, DOE support has helped accelerate technologies designed to increase domestic production of critical battery materials, reduce reliance on foreign supply chains, and strengthen the American energy and manufacturing ecosystem.
Demand for battery materials is rising across energy storage, domestic manufacturing, transportation electrification, defense technologies, and grid modernization, making secure U.S. supply chains a national priority. American Battery Technology Compnay (ABTC) is addressing this challenge through an integrated platform that combines lithium-ion battery recycling with domestic lithium resource development and refining, creating multiple pathways to produce battery-grade materials in the United States.
“We were honored to welcome Assistant Secretary Robertson and the DOE team to our facilities and demonstrate the commercial technologies helping build a more secure domestic battery materials supply chain,” said Ryan Melsert, CEO of American Battery Technology Company. “Across both business units, DOE-supported innovation is now being demonstrated in operating environments, showcasing how American innovation, strategic public-private partnership, and advanced manufacturing can work together to strengthen energy resilience, support economic growth, and increase domestic production of critical minerals essential to our nation’s future.”
During the visit, DOE and Nevada leaders toured ABTC’s first-of-kind commercial lithium-ion battery recycling facility, where company leaders highlighted internally developed technologies that recover critical materials from end-of-life batteries. Visitors also received updates on ABTC’s planned second commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility. Supported by a $150 million U.S. Department of Energy award, the facility is expected to process approximately five times the volume of battery materials as ABTC’s current Reno recycling operation and significantly increase domestic production of battery-grade critical minerals.
Visitors also toured ABTC’s claystone-to-lithium hydroxide pilot plant, which uses material from the company’s Tonopah Flats Lithium Project in central Nevada and was developed in part through U.S. Department of Energy support. Company leaders demonstrated how the pilot-scale system has produced battery-grade lithium hydroxide from Nevada claystone using ABTC’s internally developed technology platform. The technology is intended to be scaled through a planned commercial lithium hydroxide refinery supported by a $57 million DOE award and proposed to be co-located with the Tonopah Flats lithium project. The Tonopah Flats Lithium Project is one of the largest known lithium resources in the United States and has received FAST-41 Transparency Project designation to support coordinated federal permitting efforts.
Together, these projects reflect ABTC’s integrated strategy to increase domestic production of battery-grade materials through both lithium-ion battery recycling and primary lithium development, strengthening U.S. energy resilience, manufacturing competitiveness, and critical mineral supply chain security.
As the only U.S. company advancing both battery recycling and primary lithium production, ABTC is building a domestic critical minerals platform capable of supplying essential materials from multiple sources. With technologies supported in part by the Department of Energy, the company is helping establish a circular, resilient, and scalable battery materials supply chain designed to power America’s energy future.
About American Battery Technology Company
American Battery Technology Company (ABTC), headquartered in Reno, Nevada, has pioneered first-of-kind technologies to unlock domestically manufactured and recycled battery metals critically needed to help meet the significant demand from the electric vehicle, stationary storage, and consumer electronics industries. Committed to a circular supply chain for battery metals, ABTC works to continually innovate and master new battery metals technologies that power a global transition to electrification and the future of sustainable energy.
Inferred Resource
Inferred Mineral Resource is that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. The level of geological uncertainty associated with an Inferred Mineral Resource is too high to apply relevant technical and economic factors likely to influence the prospects of economic extraction in a manner useful for evaluation of economic viability. Because an Inferred Mineral Resource has the lowest level of geological confidence of all mineral resources, which prevents the application of the modifying factors in a manner useful for evaluation of economic viability, an Inferred Mineral Resource may not be considered when assessing the economic viability of a mining project, and may not be converted to a mineral reserve.
Indicated Resource
Indicated Mineral Resource is that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of adequate geological evidence and sampling. The level of geological certainty associated with an Indicated Mineral Resource is sufficient to allow a qualified person to apply modifying factors in sufficient detail to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. Because an Indicated Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than the level of confidence of a Measured Mineral Resource, an Indicated Mineral Resource may only be converted to a Probable Mineral Reserve.
Measured Resource
Measured Mineral Resource is that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of conclusive geological evidence and sampling. The level of geological certainty associated with a Measured Mineral Resource is sufficient to allow a qualified person to apply modifying factors, as defined in this section, in sufficient detail to support detailed mine planning and final evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. Because a Measured Mineral Resource has a higher level of confidence than the level of confidence of either an Indicated Mineral Resource or an Inferred Mineral Resource, a Measured Mineral Resource may be converted to a Proven Mineral Reserve or to a Probable Mineral Reserve.
Mineral Reserve
Mineral Reserve is an estimate of tonnage and grade or quality of indicated and measured mineral resources that, in the opinion of the qualified person, can be the basis of an economically viable project. More specifically, it is the economically mineable part of a measured or indicated mineral resource, which includes diluting materials and allowances for losses that may occur when the material is mined or extracted.
Probable Mineral Reserve
Probable Mineral Reserve is the economically mineable part of an indicated and, in some cases, a measured mineral resource.
Proven Mineral Reserve
Proven Mineral Reserve is the economically mineable part of a measured mineral resource and can only result from conversion of a measured mineral resource.
Pre-Feasibility Study
A Preliminary Feasibility Study (or Pre-Feasibility Study) is a comprehensive study of a range of options for the technical and economic viability of a mineral project that has advanced to a stage where a qualified person has determined (in the case of underground mining) a preferred mining method, or (in the case of surface mining) a pit configuration, and in all cases has determined an effective method of mineral processing and an effective plan to sell the product. A Pre-Feasibility Study includes a financial analysis based on reasonable assumptions, based on appropriate testing, about the modifying factors and the evaluation of any other relevant factors that are sufficient for a qualified person to determine if all or part of the Indicated and Measured Mineral Resources may be converted to mineral reserves at the time of reporting. The financial analysis must have the level of detail necessary to demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that extraction is economically viable. A Pre-Feasibility Study is less comprehensive and results in a lower confidence level than a feasibility study. A Pre-Feasibility Study is more comprehensive and results in a higher confidence level than an Initial Assessment.
Initial Assessment
An Initial Assessment is a preliminary technical and economic study of the economic potential of all or parts of mineralization to support the disclosure of mineral resources. The Initial Assessment must be prepared by a qualified person and must include appropriate assessments of reasonably assumed technical and economic factors, together with any other relevant operational factors, that are necessary to demonstrate at the time of reporting that there are reasonable prospects for economic extraction. An Initial Assessment is required for disclosure of mineral resources but cannot be used as the basis for disclosure of mineral reserves. An Initial Assessment is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied that would enable them to be classified as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the economic results of an initial assessment will be realized. The mineral resource estimates presented in the ABTC Tonopah Flats Initial Assessment were performed by third-party, qualified person RESPEC, LLC and were classified by geological and quantitative confidence in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulation S-K 1300.
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. Forward looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning: the impact of the Directors and our request for an exception, changes in government policy regarding critical minerals, and our ability to develop domestic sales channels of black mass; offtake agreements with customers; the Company’s future sales of products to customers, including the amounts, timing, and types of products included within those sales; potential loans, grants, and debt financing arrangements, including due diligence, the amount and type of debt, its syndication, and the schedule for closing; the scale of the battery recycling operations; the anticipated production from the integrated pilot facility; the scale, construction, and operation of the battery recycling operations, integrated pilot facility, Tonopah Flats Lithium Project, and commercial lithium mine and refinery; and the costs, schedules, production and economic projections associated with the foregoing. 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, risks and uncertainties related to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; 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, 2025. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release.
Attachments
- U.S. Department of Energy Leaders Tour American Battery Technology Company's Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Plant and Tonopah Flats Lithium Project Demonstration Plant
- U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Audrey Robertson Examines Lithium-Bearing Nevada Claystone Materials with Ryan Melsert at American Battery Technology Company
CONTACT: Tiffiany Moehring American Battery Technology Company 720.254.1556 tmoehring@batterymetals.com
