en.Wedoany.com Reported - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reinstated a previously canceled grant to American Battery Company. In October last year, the DOE canceled $700 million in battery and manufacturing project grants, including the one for American Battery Company, citing that the projects had not met milestones, were economically unviable, or "did not sufficiently advance national energy needs." The company's CEO, Ryan Melsert, stated that it was one of "hundreds" of canceled grants.
In 2022, the DOE initially selected American Battery Company for a five-year grant to build the first phase of a refinery. Melsert described the location during a May 11 earnings call as being situated at "one of the largest identified lithium deposits in the United States." Upon learning of the grant termination, the company initiated an appeals process and underwent a series of "technical and commercial reviews of project performance," ultimately proving its value. DOE support is critical to American Battery Company's growth, with Melsert calling the agency "one of our closest long-term partners." Another DOE grant awarded during the first Trump administration helped support the initial laboratory-scale development and demonstration facility construction for the refinery project. The recently reinstated grant was awarded during the Biden administration through the Manufacturing Energy Supply Chain office.
Melsert stated that the company continues to work closely with other federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Interior, as the lithium deposit is entirely located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Past DOE grants also helped American Battery Company launch its large-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility in McCarran, Nevada. The facility was built in 2023 and achieved full operations last year.
American Battery Company's lithium mining project will proceed in parallel with its lithium-ion battery recycling efforts. Tiffiany Moehring, the company's Director of Communications, stated that battery recycling is crucial for improving the domestic supply of battery metals, but "recycling alone cannot fully address the supply challenge," as there will still be significant shortages of critical materials even if all available batteries are recycled. The McCarran facility, designed to receive large batteries from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and process them into black mass, continues to ramp up operations, partly due to receiving recycled materials from "battery energy storage systems supporting data centers and AI facilities, end-of-life electric and hybrid vehicles, and consumer electronics." The facility is also one of the few recyclers in the western United States capable of handling waste classified under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
American Battery Company still plans to build a second critical mineral recycling facility, located somewhere in the "Southeastern United States." Melsert stated in May that the company would release further details "soon." Moehring added that the Southeastern recycling facility is expected to "significantly expand capacity compared to our existing Nevada recycling plant."
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