American Battery Technology Company Confirms Presence of Lithium at Depths Greater than 1,400 Feet at Tonopah Flats Lithium Project

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Aug 29, 2023, 08:34 ET

Company More than Halfway through Infill and Step Out Drill Program to Further Characterize Nevada-based Lithium Claystone Resource

RENO, Nev., Aug. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) (OTCQX: ABML), an integrated battery materials technology company, has achieved targeted core drilling depth of 1,430 feet, one of the deepest lithium sampling areas in Smoky Valley, as part of its third drill program aimed to advance its Tonopah Flats Lithium Project. This drill program has currently completed 4 of the 8 holes of this infill and step out drilling sampling effort, and supports the development of this domestic resource towards upgraded 'measured and indicated' resource classification.

Core samples collected from the American Battery Technology Company’s Tonopah Flats Lithium deposit in Nevada. The company’s third drill program, currently underway, aims to support the development of this domestic resource towards upgraded ‘measured and indicated’ resource classification.

"We are extremely proud of our team in Tonopah with this accomplishment as we now have identified the Upper, Middle, and Lower Siebert formation geologically in the basin, all within a single hole," stated Scott Jolcover, Chief Mineral Resources Officer. "Our previous deepest hole was 825 feet, and we have now sampled at over 1,400 feet deep with four drill holes completed in this eight-hole program. All four holes so far have appeared to bottom in claystone with very shallow alluvium gravels at the top of the holes and we look forward to receiving assay results."

ABTC has already sent collected samples to Paragon Geochemical, an industry-leading, fully accredited geochemical laboratory located in Sparks, Nevada, providing mineral assays and geochemical analyses. Paragon Geochemical's third-party characterization assessment results are anticipated within 60-120 days.

This drill program aims to expand the lithium mineralization zone with step out drilling and confirm the presence mineralization between step out holes with infill drilling.

The ABTC Tonopah Flats Lithium Project encompasses 517 unpatented lode claims covering over 10,340 acres, and ABTC controls 100% of the mining lode claims comprising the Tonopah Flats claims and the rights to all locatable minerals without any royalties. ABTC began surface sampling of these claims in the Summer of 2021, and subsequently performed multiple subsurface drilling programs at depths of up to 1,430 feet totaling over 12,000 feet of exploration covering approximately 65% of its claims.

The results of these initial successful exploration programs led to the development and publication of its third-party Qualified Person (QP) audited SK-1300 compliant Inferred Resource Report in February 2023, which concluded that this is one of the largest known lithium resources in the United States containing approximately 15.8 million tons of economically accessible lithium on a carbonate equivalent basis (LCE).

In addition to developing this resource, the company has developed its own in-house processes that utilize selective leach extraction to provide a lower-cost, lower-impact solution in contrast to conventional lithium extraction methods. ABTC will continue to conduct geological mapping, sampling, drilling, geochemical analysis, and proprietary extraction trials to characterize this resource and further quantify the performance of its internally developed lithium extraction and manufacturing operations.

In 2021, ABTC, in collaboration with DuPont and the University of Nevada, Reno, was awarded a $4.5-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to build and operate a multi-ton-per-day demonstration-scale system to accelerate the commercialization and scale-up of this critical battery-grade lithium manufacturing technology. As a result of the early successes of this project, in October 2022 ABTC was selected for an additional competitively awarded U.S. DOE grant for a $115M project funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support the construction of this commercial-scale primary lithium hydroxide manufacturing facility.

About American Battery Technology Company
American Battery Technology Company, which recently changed its name from American Battery Metals Corporation, is uniquely positioned to supply low-cost, low-environmental impact, and domestically sourced battery metals through its three divisions: lithium-ion battery recycling, primary battery metal extraction technologies, and primary resources development.

American Battery Technology Company has built a clean technology platform that is used to provide a key source of domestically manufactured critical and strategic battery metals to help meet the near insatiable demand from the electric vehicle, electrical grid storage, and consumer electronics industries. This ESG-principled platform works to create a closed-loop circular economy for battery metals that champions ethical and environmentally sustainable sourcing of critical and strategic materials.

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.

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. 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, 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, 2022. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release.

SOURCE American Battery Technology Company