Battery recycler ABTC secures US license to export up to $100M of black mass

US battery materials recycler and refiner American Battery Technology Co. received approval from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security to export up to $100 million of recycled black mass under a license granted following the implementation of federal export controls on critical battery materials, the company said Oct. 5.

The Trump Administration on Aug. 6 imposed one-year export restrictions on recoverable critical minerals and materials, including black mass, and tungsten waste and scrap, requiring exporters to obtain licenses and report monthly sales.

The Reno, Nevada-based company said the authorization allows it to continue overseas sales of black mass, supporting operations and positioning it to benefit from growing global demand for critical minerals.

"We are grateful for this license and continued support from the US 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 US Department of Energy," Ryan Melsert, CEO of ABTC, said in a statement.

Black mass exports rose 48.7% to 100,700 metric tons in 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's Global Trade Analytics Suite.

ABTC operates a commercial-scale battery recycling facility near Reno that processes end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap into copper, aluminum, steel, lithium-rich intermediates and black mass. Black mass contains lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite that can be refined and returned to the battery supply chain, supporting US efforts to build domestic critical minerals and recycling capacity.

The Platts-assessed nickel-cobalt black mass, on a delivered duty paid US basis, increased 26.5% since the start of the year to $4,618/mt as of Oct. 5. However, the price has retraced 16.4% since the June 5 high of $5,526/mt.