The Future Starts Today
“The traditional definition of sustainability is meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of tomorrow. Really nothing is single-use. On an elemental basis, nothing is really consumed in the way we use things. And having that mindset from the beginning instead of an afterthought is what I would change about our industry.”
~Ryan Melsert, CEO, CTO
Our Mission
American Battery Technology Company provides technical development and commercialization of domestic, sustainable sourcing of critical battery materials through lithium-ion battery recycling and battery metal extraction technologies for use in batteries that power electric cars, grid storage applications, and consumer electronics and tools.
American Battery Technology Company initially started as a company with a few mining claims in Nevada and over the last few years, now with a new team and management, has grown to become an integrated battery materials company. Through our innovative, first-of-kind processing technology, we are uniquely positioned to supply low-cost, low-environmental impact, and domestically sourced battery metals through our three core operations to support a sustainable closed-loop battery metal economy. We recycle lithium-ion batteries back to cathode-grade material, are committed to sustainability, and are developing primary lithium resources in Nevada.
- HQ located in Reno, NV
- Four Nevada facilities: HQ, UNR Labs, Fernley, and Tonopah
- 45 employees
- 20,000 mt/year of processing at initial Lithium-ion Battery Recycling Pilot Plant with anticipated plans of scaling up to 100,000 mt/y processing for initial commercial plant in the future
- Over 10,000 acres of lithium-bearing sedimentary claystone unpatented lode mining claims located near Tonopah, Nevada
Reno HQ & Our Labs @ UNR
ABTC is headquartered in Reno, Nevada – “The Biggest Little City in the World.” In recent years, the region has become a major technology center for the United States with the presence of many tech startups as well as top-tier companies such as Amazon, Tesla, Panasonic, Microsoft, Apple, and Google. Our Reno HQ has a central location in the city and currently serves as home base for company executive, administrative, and financial operations.
Labs at University of Nevada Reno:
Our partnership with the Nevada Center for Applied Research (NCAR) has provided lab space a short drive away at the University of Nevada Reno. As part of our commitment to constant innovation, our team of scientists and engineers continues to test and adapt our recycling processes alongside the latest in battery technology, as they work to also demonstrate an original, supportable and superior lithium extraction process as a substitute to the conventional evaporation-based technology. This novel method allows for significantly lower consumption of acid, lower levels of contaminants in the generated leach liquor, and lower overall costs of production. The ABTC technology team supports continued work on their US Advanced Battery Consortium and Department of Energy funded collaboration with strategic partners BASF and C4V to demonstrate that battery grade nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium hydroxide can be manufactured from recycled materials at lower cost, lower environmental impact, and with higher domestic U.S. sourced content than conventional virgin sourced metals.
Fernley Pilot Plant
With our recycling process proven at bench scale, ABTC is currently constructing a pre-commercial, lithium-ion battery recycling Pilot Plant in Fernley, Nevada to validate and scale our process for commercialization. Located 30 minutes east of Reno, Fernley has developed from a farming settlement to the fastest-growing small town in the state due to its giant tech neighbors such as Tesla and Amazon.
Our Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Pilot Plant will be entirely new construction consisting of three functional building areas totaling approximately 100,000 square feet of floor space with 60,000 square feet dedicated to production. The three areas include the battery recycling production building, an office building with laboratories, and a finished goods warehouse. The Plant will be scaled to process 20,000 metric tons of feedstock annually. It will produce battery grade materials to be redeployed into the North American battery supply chain in a truly closed-loop, circular fashion.
The Pilot Plant will also feature ABTC’s Global Development Center, including several scales of analytical and process development laboratories. The facilities will provide infrastructure and experimental tools to support the current and future operations of the company’s battery recycling and primary battery metal extraction technologies.
Tonopah Flats
Our base of operations for primary resource development is located in Tonopah, Nevada, a historic mining town whose population boomed in the early 1900s when significant amounts of gold, silver, copper, and lead were mined in the area. The increased demand for lithium due to its use in consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and advanced ceramics has created a renewed interest in the area, where lithium has been found in both brine and claystone resources.
ABTC is currently testing and evaluating multiple lithium extraction processes to sustainably and cost-effectively recover battery grade lithium products from primary resources. Most of our work has focused on designing and optimizing our internally developed processing train for manufacturing battery cathode grade lithium hydroxide from Nevada-based sedimentary claystone resources.
The ABTC Tonopah Flats Lithium Exploration Project currently encompasses the exploration of 517 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 10,340 acres of land that is administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) near Tonopah, Nevada. As part of our exploration, ABTC is continuing to conduct geological mapping, sampling, drilling, geochemical analysis, and proprietary extraction trials to characterize these resources and to quantify the performance of the lithium extraction and manufacturing operations.
ABTC Values
We Do the Right Thing, the Right Way
Our team’s character drives how we treat others, how we make ethical decisions, and how we move forward as a responsible, world-bettering company. We make honesty and transparency our routine with a focus on safety, quality, and accountability.
We Work Hard and Play Nice
We embrace the big challenges, facing them head-on by rolling up our sleeves and getting to work, with individual contributions powering team collaboration for the greatest results.
We Care
We are champions of each other, our shareholders, our customers, and our communities. Embracing differences and curiosity, we value authenticity, mutual respect, openness, and inclusion. We’re all on the same team: team human.
We Leave Things Better Than We Found Them
We are forward thinkers and doers, seeking innovative ways to solve problems and challenge the status quo to better the world now so future generations can thrive.
Our Executive Team
Our Board
We are a publicly traded company with a current 4-person Independent Board of Directors wherein our CEO Ryan Melsert serves as a Board Director and Chairman, and COO Andrés Meza serves as the Board Secretary. Each member of ABTC’s Board of Directors brings a unique and complementary set of necessary skills and experiences that will help continue to drive us through our evolution to a commercial scale manufacturing and operations company within the battery metals industry.
