• Company continues to ramp operations and manufacture commercial-scale quantities of recycled metal products at its first lithium-ion battery recycling facility, and has contracted and begun receiving funds for two U.S. Department of Energy grants supporting over $135 million of projects

RENO, Nev., Feb. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) (NASDAQ: ABAT), an integrated critical battery materials company that is commercializing its first-of-kind technologies for both primary battery minerals manufacturing and secondary minerals lithium-ion battery recycling, announced its second quarter fiscal year (FY) 2024 financial results, for the period ending December 31, 2023.  

Highlights from Q2 FY2024 include: 

• In August 2023, ABTC finalized the purchase of a move-in ready, unoccupied commercial-scale, industrial facility located in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center (TRIC), for the purpose of installing the first implementation of its integrated lithium-ion battery recycling technologies.
• In October 2023, ABTC completed the construction and installation of the initial phase of its battery recycling systems into the TRIC facility and began processing commercial-scale quantities of battery materials into commercial quantities of sellable recycled battery metal products.
• ABTC has continued to ramp the throughput of operations at this facility, and is currently adding a second shift of operations to further increase the rate of recycling operations.
• ABTC's battery recycling operations have successfully completed audit, environmental reviews, and qualification processes with several premier global automotive, battery manufacturers, and other strategic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and ABTC is currently in negotiations for quantities of feedstock that would represent several years' worth of operations at the current TRIC facility.
• As a result, in parallel to the finalization and contracting of these prospective long-term feedstock agreements, ABTC has begun coordinating with its strategic partners on the site selection of its next commercial battery recycling facility.
• The prime agreement contract for ABTC's U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant to support its $115 million project for its commercial-scale lithium hydroxide refinery was issued with a project start date of September 1, 2023, and ABTC began receiving funds related to this award during this reported quarter.
• The prime agreement contract for ABTC's U.S. DOE grant to support its $20 million project for its next-generation advanced battery recycling technologies was issued with a project start date of October 1, 2023, and ABTC began receiving funds related to this award during this reported quarter.
• Total government grant funding increased to $1.7 million for the fiscal year-to-date six months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $0.4 million during the same period of the prior year.
• Cash used for the investment into the acquisition of property, plant, equipment, mineral rights, and water rights for the fiscal year-to-date six months ended December 31, 2023 was $10.9 million, compared to $10.2 million used in the same period of the prior year.
• Cash used in operations for the fiscal year-to-date six months ended December 31, 2023 was $7.4 million, which is in line with the $7.4 million use of cash during the same period of the prior year.
• On August 29, 2023, ABTC entered into an agreement to allow it to issue a new series of senior secured convertible notes for up to $51 million. To date, $25 million of these notes have been issued.

Continued Acceleration Towards Fully-Ramped Battery Recycling Operations
ABTC continues to advance its battery recycling systems to fully-ramped operations at its first commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility. In its first months of operations, the company has successfully manufactured a large inventory of recycled battery metal products for sale to its domestic-U.S. strategic partners. This recycling facility has the capacity to process over 20,000 metric tonnes per year of battery feedstock materials when fully ramped, and several strategic partnerships have been announced recently for the sourcing of feed material and the offtake of recycled products, such as with BASF.

Concurrent Commercialization of Recycling and Primary Resource Operations
Progressing a new technology from initial design, to testing and bench scale validations, to integrated piloting, and through commercialization is an arduous process that often takes many years.  ABTC is concurrently commercializing its first-of-kind technologies for both its battery recycling operations and its battery grade lithium hydroxide refining from primary claystone with an accelerated, fast-to-market approach.  

ABTC's in-house team is comprised of chemists, metallurgists, engineers, construction managers, and operators of first-of-kind, large-scale battery manufacturing facilities, and as such has significant experience managing large construction projects and bringing first-of-kind technologies to market.

In order to prioritize these dual commercialization efforts, ABTC recorded $5.3 million in research and development costs for the fiscal year-to-date six months ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $3.3 million when compared to the same period of the prior year.

Additional recent company information and updates can be found at www.americanbattery.com/events-and-presentations including:

• American Battery Technology Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders Fiscal 2024, Presentation
• American Battery Technology Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders Fiscal 2024, Video Playback
• American Battery Technology Company's January Overview and Analyst Q&A, Video Playback

About American Battery Technology Company 
American Battery Technology Company (ABTC), headquartered in Reno, Nevada, has pioneered first-of-kind technologies to unlock domestically manufactured and recycled battery metals critically needed to help meet the significant demand from the electric vehicle, stationary storage, and consumer electronics industries.  Committed to a circular supply chain for battery metals, ABTC works to continually innovate and master new battery metals technologies that power a global transition to electrification and the future of sustainable energy.

Forward-Looking Statements  
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking statements." Although the American Battery Technology Company's (the "Company") management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks and uncertainties related to the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; interpretations or reinterpretations of geologic information, unfavorable exploration results, inability to obtain permits required for future exploration, development or production, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; fluctuating mineral and commodity prices, final investment approval and the ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms or at all. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2023. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release.