American Battery Technology Company (NASDAQ:ABAT) has received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) for US$900 million ($1.4 billion) in financing.
The debt will support the construction of American Battery Technology’s commercial-scale lithium mine and claystone-to-lithium hydroxide refinery near Tonopah, Nevada in the US.
The company says its critical mineral lithium mine and refinery project is “strongly aligned” with EXIM’s ‘Make More in America’ initiative, as well as its ‘‘China and Transformational Export Program’, both of which provide beneficial financing terms for US companies facing competition from China to ensure the US leads in certain critical export areas, including the domestic manufacturing of critical minerals.
American Battery Technology Company CEO Ryan Melsert says the support from EXIM ais further validation that its mission is “closely aligned with the US government’s dedication to serve the American people”.
“This proposed financial support can greatly accelerate the commercialization of our domestic critical mineral mine and refinery, and we are excited to implement at scale these first-of-kind technologies that we have been demonstrating over the past several years,” Melsert says.
Globally, lithium products are generally manufactured from conventional feedstock resources, which include hard rock spodumene materials primarily from Western Australia and lithium-rich brines primarily from South America.
However, the US does not have large quantities of these conventional resources. As a result, in order to significantly increase US production of battery grade lithium products, ABTC has developed its own low-cost and low-impact technologies to access the lithium within unconventional lithium-rich claystone material that is found in central Nevada to manufacture these battery grade lithium materials domestically.
Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, American Battery Technology Company is committed to a circular supply chain for battery metals. The company works to continually innovate and master new battery metals technologies that power a global transition to electrification and the future of sustainable energy.
EXIM bank is the nation’s official export credit agency with the mission of supporting American jobs by facilitating US exports.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: American Battery Technology
