Full Year 2026 American Battery Technology Co Earnings Call
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Speaker #2: Here, the highlights are really working to publish our pre-feasibility study last fall. This really demonstrated the technical and financial performance of this system. We showed we have about 21.3 million tons of lithium hydroxide that can be made just from the resources on this site, and that includes about 2.7 million tons that are further classified as proven or probable reserves.
Speaker #2: We're continuing to develop and roll out our 30,000-ton-per-year mine and refinery at our property just west of Tonopah, Nevada. We work closely with the Department of Energy.
Speaker #2: Last fall, along with hundreds of other projects, one of our Department of Energy grants was canceled. We did work closely with the DOE and appealed that decision, and over several months of work with them, we were able to reverse that termination and have our grant fully reinstated.
Speaker #2: So, as of now, we were working under the same project, with the same funding and the same milestones, to continue to have the DOE support the construction of that first processing train.
Speaker #2: Our full Tonopah project is on government-managed land through the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management, so through BLM and through the Department of Energy as a supporting agency.
Speaker #2: We are going through the NEPA process, which includes large amounts of baseline studies. In addition to that, we have our plan of operations submitted that really shows how we plan on developing this property.
Speaker #2: We were fortunate enough, last fall, to have completed the baseline studies and, just a few weeks ago, to have received certification from the BLM that they have now accepted our plan of operations.
Speaker #2: This approach concludes the pre-NEPA phase of the process and allows us to move into the full NEPA process for the remaining steps, so we can have our permits to begin site work and construction at this property.
Speaker #2: We were excited last spring that we were selected by President Trump's National Energy Dominance Council in the FAST-41 Permitting Council, to be a priority project within the country.
Speaker #2: This really was chosen for a handful of projects really looking to scale manufacturing facilities to produce critical minerals within the U.S. It really does result in streamlined federal permitting, really working to combine the efforts of the multiple agencies that are needed as we work through this process.
Speaker #2: We did build and operate an integrated demonstration facility that shows how this technology works. We continue to work with that plant to produce large-scale batches of this battery-grade lithium hydroxide product that we've been delivering to customers for evaluation, as we work through their qualification processes.
Speaker #2: So, the Tonopah Flats lithium project is one of the largest lithium resources identified in the U.S., and it's something we are working to scale.
Speaker #2: To really address our domestic needs. Summarizing our financial results from the past year—again, we had a substantial increase in revenue, over a 400% increase compared to fiscal year '25, while our cost of goods sold only increased by about 67%.
Speaker #2: So, showing substantial impact from economies of scale, plus the impacts of implementing operational efficiencies, our cost of goods sold on a cash basis was further improved. While last year we had many review periods working with the federal government, we have even more government contracts in place now and look forward to continuing to work with them as we draw down from those over the next few years.
Speaker #2: On a cash basis, we continue to invest in our first recycling plant, increasing the amount of equipment that we have as we implement more automated processes, and our operational activities actually used less cash over the past year.
Speaker #2: Even though we had more than a four-fold increase in throughput, we decreased the cash spent on our operating activities as we once again implemented those operational efficiencies.
Speaker #2: We were able to bring in large amounts of funds through financing activities, and the result is a substantially increased cash balance of about $49.5 million. That has allowed us to collect interest over the past year and be ready to expand our facilities as needed.
Speaker #2: At the same time, we have extinguished all of our long-term debt that was outstanding as of fiscal '25, and as of the end of fiscal '26, we have no outstanding long-term debt.
Speaker #2: There have been several updates in the industry over the past few months. One of them is that the Department of Commerce issued a directive that effectively bans the export of black mass unless there is an exception or adjustment obtained from the Department of Commerce.
Speaker #2: We've been working closely with Commerce over the past few weeks. We have submitted an exception request. They have replied with several follow-up questions and requests for additional information.
Speaker #2: However, at this time, there's no formal response as to the status of our exception request. So, as of now, we continue to sell the byproducts out of our recycling facility, and for the short term, are storing our black mass product at our facility until there is a conclusion with this directive.
Speaker #2: But working with the Department of Commerce very closely, and with support from the Department of Energy and many other federal agencies, as this process is being reviewed.
Speaker #2: So, with that, we thank everyone for joining this review of our fiscal year 2026 financials, and look forward to having our formal annual shareholder meeting in November to talk through more details of the past year and our steps ahead for the coming year.
Speaker #2: So, thank you, everybody, for joining today.
