American Battery Technology Corporation (ABTC) announced that it has successfully appealed the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) decision to terminate the work, restoring its award for the $115 million construction project.
The $57 million grant was originally awarded in 2022 and was intended to build a new commercial-scale lithium manufacturing facility at the Tonopah Flats Lithium Project in Nevada. In late 2025, the Department of Energy terminated the grant. According to ABTC, she filed an appeal the day after she was notified of the termination, and immediately entered the informal dispute resolution (IDR) process. After months of reviews and meetings, the Department of Energy sent a notice to ABTC stating: “The Department has concluded that rescission of the termination notice and continuation of the project is justified.”
ABTC CEO Ryan Melsert applauded the DOE’s decision, noting that the company is proud of its longstanding relationship with the department. “Of the hundreds of DOE grants that were terminated last fall, very few were able to successfully appeal the decisions and have their contracts reinstated,” he said.
ABTC said the grant has been restored in full with an updated schedule to account for the review process.
The initial termination occurred simultaneously with President Donald Trump’s discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2026, which eliminated more than $15 billion in so-called “Green New Deal” money.
“We consider the US Department of Energy one of our closest long-term partners and look forward to continuing to work with them across multiple departments to continue to lead important domestic minerals projects,” Melsert concluded.
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