46 JULY 2022 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Booth 2004 Exploration Drilling in Little Smokey Valley Adapted from Information by American Battery Technology Company American Battery Technology Company (ABTC), a critical minerals manufacturing and lithium-ion battery recycling enterprise, received approval of its required Notice of Operation Permit from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Tonopah Field Office, as well as its Reclamation Bonding from the BLM Nevada State Office in Reno, for initial Phase One subsurface sampling of its 305 lode mining claims located on land in Little Smokey Valley near Tonopah, Nevada. “With our permit and bonding in place, we are excited to now commence with exploratory drilling and subsurface sampling of these high-potential resources,” said American Battery Technology Company CEO Ryan Melsert. The company previously announced initial results of surface sampling from these claims, and the outcome was promising. Exploratory drilling on the claims, now referred to as ABTC’s Tonopah Flats Lithium Exploration Project, is the next critical step in developing this high-potential resource. Samples collected during exploratory drilling operations will be characterized and analyzed to define and quantify the extent of the deposit in footprint, depth, and grades of lithium. Preliminary evaluation of historical sampling and characterization efforts indicated the composition and structure of resources on these claims could be representative of resources identified on nearby claims in the same region. In April 2020, American Lithium published a resource assessment of their 7500-acre TLC project directly bordering the ABTC secured claims. It stated a measured and indicated resource of nearly six million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent, with close to two million tons additionally inferred. Over the past two years, ABTC has been designing and optimizing its internally developed processing train for manufacturing battery cathode grade lithium hydroxide from Nevada-based sedimentary claystone resources. The majority of development efforts to date have been performed with sedimentary claystone resource samples provided by partner companies in the Tonopah region. While ABTC will continue to work with partners to refine, test, and validate internally developed technologies for potential commercialization at its resource sites, the company is also evaluating the performance of its lithium extraction and manufacturing technologies directly on its own lithium-bearing resource. “Our in-house technology development and commercialization efforts for the domestic manufacturing of battery cathode grade lithium hydroxide directly support U.S. federal efforts to reduce dependence on foreign sources of these critical materials that may not adhere to sufficient ethical and environmental standards for battery metals sourcing and manufacturing,” said Melsert. “The construction and commissioning of our lithium-ion battery recycling pilot facility remains our primary focus. However, the magnitude of the entire battery recycling industry combined cannot meet the near insatiable near-term demand for these critical and strategic battery metals on its own. These recycling facilities must be supplemented by low-cost, low-environmental impact, and domestic primary battery metal manufacturing facilities in order to establish a truly secure closed-loop circular battery metals supply chain." EXB
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDk4Mzk=