kbaker@abtc.earth
7:00 AM (4 hours ago)
to bcc: me
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Dear Friends of ABTC,
Thank you for your continued support as we finish a very busy month. I am pleased to share with you our monthly update and news recap. In addition to the below, we released an updated Investor Deck in early March, which can be found on our website.
American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) finished the detailed design of its integrated lithium-ion battery recycling processing train over a year ago. Since then we have been focusing on scaling and commercializing our recycling process through development of a pilot plant in Fernley, Nevada. Through work at the Greentown Labs facility, our technology team that includes Chief Technology Officer Ryan Melsert, Principal Chemical Engineer August Meng, and Senior Chemist Axel Drefahl has been generating sample material (battery grade metals that will be produced at our pilot plant) to deliver to cathode manufacturers to move through their internal supplier qualification processes. We have also continued progress over the past month, as outlined below, in developing our lithium-ion battery recycling pilot plant.
Water Rights Closings: ABTC closed on the acquisition of 55 acre-feet/year of water purchased from three separate sellers. We anticipate closing an additional 61.635 acre-feet/year by the end of this month with 5.175 acre-feet/year more closing next month. These water rights occur in the Fernley Area of Nevada Hydrographic Basin 76, and ensure our lithium-ion battery recycling pilot plant will have adequate water to operate at full capacity.
Geotechnical Investigations: Final geotechnical investigations on the Fernley pilot plant site took place last Thursday and Friday. Three infiltration tests were performed. Data gathered from these tests will inform our pilot plant foundation design. An excavator was on site to excavate test pits and also a water truck to supply water for the testing. Completion of the final geotechnical investigation enables the Miles Construction team to finish grading plans and submit grading permit applications to the City of Fernley. It is expected that grading permit applications will be submitted in April and that grading operations will commence in May.
Request for Confidentiality to Protect Company IP in Permitting Process: On February 25, 2021 the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection approved ABTC's "Request for Confidentiality for New Class II Air Quality Operating Permit". This agreement ensures that our highly proprietary integrated lithium-ion battery recycling processing train intellectual property will remain confidential throughout the environmental permitting process for our pilot plant. We are currently working towards the submittal of a Class II Air Quality Operating Permit Application under these approved confidentiality guidelines.
Conditional Use Permit Application: The City of Fernley ("City") is currently reviewing ABTC's Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application for our lithium-ion battery recycling pilot plant. The ABTC and Miles Construction teams continue to engage with City staff, and the pilot plant CUP application is tentatively scheduled for discussion at the Fernley Planning Commission meeting in mid-May.
New Development Center at Nevada Center for Applied Research at the University of Nevada Reno: ABTC had planned to solely focus on scaling up its recycling operations in the coming year, however when it was selected for a grant from the US DoE Advanced Manufacturing Office in late January, 2021 for primary lithium extraction and cathode specification hydroxide manufacturing from sedimentary resources technologies, we had to pivot and bring on new resources. We are now accelerating our primary lithium extraction development efforts in line with this government grant program and with our corporate partners. Our team has secured new laboratory and development space at the University of Nevada Reno Applied Research Facility to build out these larger prototype systems throughout the rest of this year until we are ready to build our multi-ton per day field units next year to further support this grant program.
Carlos Cardillo, Director of Nevada Center for Applied Research (NCAR) at University of Nevada Reno welcomed ABTC to the Applied Research Facility, "American Battery Technology Company is a new NCAR affiliated corporation, a domestic manufacturing of low-environmental impact and low-cost lithium-ion battery metal feedstocks. It is encouraging to have a global leader with innovative, sustainable technologies on campus!"
ABTC looks forward to continuing our work to become an industry leader in the production of battery metals that will fuel the new energy revolution and to put in place a circular economy for critical materials in the United States and beyond. Thank you to our home State of Nevada for its continued support of our work.
March Press Recap:
March 30: Press Release - American Battery Metals Corporation Joins the Critical Materials Institute - Advisory Board
March 29: News Feature - ABTC says it remains focused on the future
March 26: News Feature - ABTC is featured in IHS Markit's market analysis, Threefold increase in recycling needed to help meet 2030 demand for lithium-ion EV batteries
March 26: News Feature - Company receives grant for lithium project
March 24: Press Release - American Battery Metals Corporation Provides Update on its Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Pilot Plant
March 23: Press Release - American Battery Metals Corporation Establishes New Development Center at the Nevada Center for Applied Research
March 18: News Mention: State of Nevada should expedite licensing of lithium mines
March 17: Press Release - American Battery Metals Corporation Provides Update on S-3 Registration Statement
March 11: Press Release - American Battery Metals Corporation Adamantly Denies Short Sellers Attack of False, Manipulative and Defamatory Reports
ICYMI: The Driving Green podcasts' episode featuring COO Menka Sethi gives a detailed explainer on the permitting process and anticipated timelines.
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American Battery Metals Corporation, soon to be renamed “American Battery Technology Company”, is uniquely positioned to supply battery metals through its three divisions: lithium-ion battery recycling, extraction technology, and primary resources. The Company recently announced the groundbreaking of its lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Fernley, NV, and issued a recent shareholder letter outlining achievements of the past year.
American Battery Technology Company has built a clean technology platform that increases production of primary metals used in the batteries that power electric cars, grid storage applications, consumer electronics and tools. The green platform creates a circular economy for battery metals that champions ethical and environmentally sustainable sourcing of critical materials.
For more information, please visit: www.americanbatterytechnology.com
