Lithium Miners Profit as Battery Storage Demand Surges

Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. and partner Xcite Uranium Inc. reported additional drilling results from the Don Lake uranium project near Uranium City, Saskatchewan, where the B Zone and C Zone targets intersected multiple zones of anomalous radioactivity. The 1106m, 10-hole program, contracted to Apex Drilling, tested for structurally-controlled uranium mineralization defined by historical work and the 2025-2026 field programs. Highlights included DN26005 with 1.3m averaging 2898 cps, DN26006 with 5.5m averaging 2656 cps, DN26008 with 0.7m averaging 10403 cps, and DN26009 with 0.6m averaging 12473 cps. The first three holes at Don Lake in 2026, completed in the A Zone area, also intersected anomalous radioactivity, including DN26001 with 1.9m averaging 11571 cps, DN26002 with 1.1m averaging 11753 cps, and DN26003 with 1.2m averaging 2700 cps. Geochemical assays of drill core samples are pending, and the approved 2026 budget for Don Lake is approximately $1.1 million, consisting of $200,000 in completed fieldwork and $900,000 allocated for drilling, with all work managed by TerraLogic Exploration Inc. Under a December 2023 agreement, Xcite holds the exclusive right to earn up to an 80% interest in the Don Lake, Gulch, Lorado, Beaver River, Black Bay, and Smitty projects, which cover 54 Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index occurrences and five past-producing uranium mines and are 100% owned by Eagle Plains.

American Battery Technology Company reported its first-ever adjusted gross profit on its fiscal year 2026 earnings call on September 14, even as CEO Ryan Melsert disclosed a federal directive that effectively bans exports of black mass unless the company obtains a specific exception. Revenue at its flagship recycling facility jumped more than 400% year over year to $21.7 million, while cost of goods sold rose only 67% and operating cash spend fell 16%, pushing adjusted gross profit to $1.7 million from a $6.2 million loss a year earlier. Cash climbed to $49.5 million as of June 30, 2026, total assets reached $133 million, and the company erased all long-term debt. A second recycling facility planned for the Southeast U.S., designed to process 100,000 tons of batteries a year, is backed by a $150 million Department of Energy grant, and a separate $10 million DOE grant funds three next-generation recycling technologies; the Bureau of Land Management also certified the plan of operations for the Tonopah lithium project in Nevada, which holds 21.3 million tons of lithium hydroxide including 2.7 million tons of proven and probable reserves. American Battery Technology has submitted a request for the black mass export exception but had received no formal response from the Department of Commerce as of the call, and short interest sits at 16.38% of the float against a forward P/E of 37.74 as of September 16.