American Battery Technology Reclaims DOE Lithium Grant After Successful Appeal

American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) (NASDAQ:ABAT) announced it has successfully appealed the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) termination of a US$115 million grant, securing full reinstatement of the federal funding for its commercial-scale lithium refinery in Nevada.

Under the reversal, the DOE did not alter the original funding allocation or the project’s technical and commercial milestones, adjusting only the contract schedule to account for the timeline delays incurred during the review process.

The capital supports the construction of the first commercial phase of the Tonopah Flats lithium project, designed to process an initial 5,000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide annually.

The company originally secured the five-year funding package in October 2022 under the Manufacturing Energy Supply Chain (MESC) office.

However, on October 9, 2025, the DOE notified the company that the grant was being terminated as part of a sweep that axed hundreds of federal contracts.

ABTC filed an appeal the following day by initiating an Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process. Over the subsequent months, the company and the DOE conducted a series of technical and commercial audits on the project's performance.

Following a final IDR meeting in December 2025, the DOE formally determined that rescinding the termination and continuing the project was warranted.

CEO Ryan Melsert said the reinstatement was a hard-fought validation of the company's proprietary processing technology.

"Of the hundreds of DOE grants terminated last Fall very few have been able to successfully appeal the decisions and have their contracts reinstated," Melsert stated.

He added: "I am very proud of our team for relentlessly demonstrating the performance of these internally-developed critical mineral technologies and how crucial it is to implement and scale these commercial facilities to support the national security of the United States and enable its energy dominance."

The Tonopah Flats site has already secured expedited regulatory status. In June 2025, the White House’s National Energy Dominance Council and the FAST-41 Permitting Council designated it a critical mineral Priority Project to streamline federal approvals.

Concurrently, ABTC is also advancing its secondary business line in critical mineral recycling. The company recently confirmed it is progressing with plans for a second recycling facility in the Southeast, which is expected to exceed the processing capacity of its existing Nevada plant.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.