American Battery Technology Co. (ABTC) can sell up to $100 million of its recycled black mass into export markets after the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) approved a license covering sales under specified terms, the Reno, Nevada-based company announced Oct. 1.

The license operates through the Defense Priorities and Allocation System (DPAS) and follows the implementation of recently enacted federal export controls governing critical battery materials. For ABTC, the clearance means it can keep moving black mass — the shredded, metal-bearing intermediate produced when end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap are processed — to overseas buyers at a moment when Washington is restricting flows of those same materials.

"We are grateful for this license and continued support from the U.S. government for the sales of our domestic critical mineral products as we scale both our current critical mineral recycling facility and also our second recycling facility, supported by $150 million in competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Energy," ABTC CEO Ryan Melsert said in a statement. "As demonstrated by the progress reflected in our fiscal year 2026 financial results, we continue to successfully execute on the commercialization of our technologies and expand our role within the critical minerals value chain."

The numbers behind that claim are concrete. ABTC reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $21.7 million, up 407 percent from $4.3 million in fiscal 2025 — the strongest year in company history, it says. Drivers included higher recycling facility throughput, increased byproduct production and improved product pricing. Adjusted gross profit reached $1.7 million, swinging from a $6.2 million loss the prior year, with cash balances and total assets also rising.

The export revenue flows through operating capacity, not announced projects. ABTC's first commercial-scale recycling facility near Reno entered commercial operations in 2023 and processes end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap into copper, aluminum, steel, lithium-rich intermediates and black mass using internally developed technologies. Black mass itself carries lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite — materials that downstream refiners can return to the critical mineral supply chain for new battery production.

The second recycling facility remains in development, backed by the $150 million in competitive DOE grants Melsert cited. ABTC frames both plants as components of a domestically integrated critical minerals platform combining recycling with primary resource development.

The policy context matters as much as the plant economics. The new federal export controls on critical battery materials did not name recyclers as exempt, and ABTC's license effectively carves out a pathway for recycled black mass to cross borders where mined or foreign-sourced material may face tighter scrutiny. The company says continued export sales support current operations, strengthen its market position and let it capitalize on growing global demand for critical minerals.

"The company remains focused on expanding domestic critical mineral production through both recycling and primary resource development initiatives, helping strengthen U.S. supply chain resilience and support the growing demand for critical minerals essential to electrification, energy storage and national energy security," ABTC said.

Two milestones now decide what happens next. The first is execution: converting the $100 million export ceiling into contracted sales as the second DOE-backed facility moves toward commissioning. The second is regulatory: how BIS administers the new battery-materials export regime — and whether licenses like ABTC's remain available on these terms — will set the template for every U.S. black mass producer weighing domestic refining capacity against export markets.