Column: Trump 2.0 won’t reverse Biden’s critical minerals push
Donald Trump has described the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as a "green scam" and vowed to repeal it after he returns to the White House in January.
American Battery Technology (NASDAQ: ABAT) has updated the initial assessment for its Tonopah Flats lithium project near the town of Tonopah, Nevada, midway between Las Vegas and Reno. The company has been exploring the property since 2021.
The initial assessment was done in December 2023, and the current study is an update.
However, American Battery does not say the studies conform to National Instrument 43-101 definitions. Rather, the figures comply with the US S-K 1300, which the company says is “similar to a preliminary economic assessment”.
The Tonopah Flats claystone is one of the largest lithium resources in the US.
The measured and indicated resource is 3.16 million tonnes averaging 596 ppm lithium and containing 11.4 million tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM). The inferred resource is 2.93 billion tonnes averaging 550 ppm lithium, containing 21.2 million tonnes LHM.
American Battery believes that over the 50-year mining period, about 540,000 tonnes of claystone will be treated annually.
The company plans to use its own dilute acid leaching lithium extraction process that has demonstrated recoveries lithium over 90%. It has also validated in-house lithium hydroxide manufacturing techniques.
Annual LHM production will be 30,000 tonnes of LHM.
