American Battery Technology Company (OTCQB:ABML) announced that it has received permit approval—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 its initial phase I subsurface sampling of 305 lode mining claims located in Little Smokey Valley near Tonopah.
The Reno, Nevada-based company had previously announced the initial results of its surface sampling from these claims. After promising results, exploratory drilling on these claims, now referred to as American Battery Technology Company (OTCQB:ABML)'s Tonopah Flats Lithium Exploration Project, is the next critical step in developing this high potential resource, the company said in a statement.
“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 Ryan Melsert, American Battery Technology Company (OTCQB:ABML) (ABTC) CEO.
“The preparation, submittal, and approval of our permit in such a short time period is very rare and is a testament to the experience level and work ethic of our resources team," he added.
READ: American Battery Metals changing name to American Battery Technology Company, launches new website
The samples collected during these exploratory drilling operations will be characterized and analyzed in order to define and quantify the extent of the lithium-bearing deposit in the footprint, depth, and grades of lithium.
In April 2020, American Lithium published a resource assessment of its 7,500-acre TLC project, which directly borders these ABTC secured claims, showing a measured and indicated resource of 5.37 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, with an additional 1.76 million tonnes inferred.
Over the past two years, ABTC has been designing and optimizing its internally developed processing train for the manufacturing of battery cathode grade lithium hydroxide from these Nevada-based sedimentary claystone resources.
The company said that the majority of these development efforts to date have been performed with sedimentary claystone resource samples provided by partner companies in the Tonopah.
“Our in-house technology development and commercialization efforts for the domestic manufacturing of battery cathode grade lithium hydroxide directly support US 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.
He concluded: "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."
Contact Ritika at ritika@proactiveinvestors.com