COVID-19's impact on supply chains highlights how reliant the US is on China for critical minerals necessary for electric vehicles and stationary storage applications

The coronavirus outbreak hit just as the industry 'started to see signs of a pricing rebound in the first quarter of 2020”

( ), an advanced extraction and battery recycling technology company, said Monday the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has “wreaked havoc” on battery metals supply chains that are dominated by China.

The Nevada-based company said the COVID-19 pandemic arose just as the battery metals markets, particularly lithium, “started to see signs of a pricing rebound in the first quarter of 2020.”

American Battery Metals said the big three lithium companies have telegraphed profit warnings due to coronavirus-driven logistics issues in the supply chain, highlighting just how reliant the US is on China for the critical minerals necessary for electric vehicles and stationary storage applications.

"America is only mining and producing a little more than 1% of the world's lithium, yet we have huge amounts of resources ready to be developed," American Battery Metals' CEO Doug Cole said in a statement.

"If coronavirus has shown us anything, it's that we are far too reliant on China and other countries for key minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. The United States is rich in these key metals, and we must quickly increase domestic investment to bring these resources into the supply chain."

The company said it is taking a leading role in bringing strategic solutions to the battery metals supply chain challenges. In addition to its resource production and internally sourced processing train for the direct extraction of lithium, the company is set to launch a first-of-its-kind lithium-ion battery recycling facility in the second half of 2020.

"We have developed and are currently implementing an integrated, scalable, commercial plant for the universal recycling of lithium-ion batteries of various form factors and chemistries," said Ryan Melsert, the company’s chief technology officer.

"Through our recycling process, we will ‘mine’ lithium, cobalt, nickel and other key materials fundamental to lithium-ion batteries, from waste and end of life batteries. Our recycling process is environmentally sustainable, and is a significant step toward a more circular economy."

American Battery Metals is focused on its lithium-ion battery recycling and resource production projects in the state, with the goal of becoming a substantial domestic supplier of battery metals to the rapidly growing electric vehicle and battery storage markets.

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