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Element 25 receives US$166m DoE grant to build high-purity manganese refinery in Louisiana

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By Imelda Cotton - 
Element 25 ASX E25 high-purity manganese sulphate project DoE grant
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Element 25 (ASX: E25) has been selected for a US$166 million grant from the US Department of Energy to support its construction of a battery-grade high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) refinery in Louisiana.

The 21,000-square-metre plant will be one of the first commercial facilities in the US to produce HPMSM and is expected to reduce the country’s reliance on Chinese sources.

The grant falls under the department’s Battery Materials Processing Grant Program and adds to US$115m in project funding already committed by offtake partners and global auto-houses General Motors and Stellantis.

Major milestone

Element 25 managing director Justin Brown said the grant represented a major milestone in the development of the refinery.

“This grant will fund up to half of our construction capital costs and, when combined with existing funding commitments, will propel the project towards financial close and the start of construction,” he said.

“This will help create long-term jobs for the Louisiana community and deliver ethically-sourced HPMSM which complies with the Inflation Reduction Act.”

Innovative flowsheet

Element 25 plans to produce HPMSM from manganese ore mined at its Butcherbird operation in Western Australia and exported to Louisiana.

It will employ an innovative flowsheet to produce up to 135,000 tonnes per year of HPMSM, which is considered a critical raw material for the domestic manufacture of lithium-ion batteries.

The flowsheet will convert manganese concentrate using low-energy consumption processes to remove solid waste residue and deliver the world’s lowest-reported carbon intensity HPMSM.

The process allows for a mine-to-market carbon footprint that is reported to be approximately 67% lower than that of Chinese competitors.

Prior funding

In mid-2023, Element 25 secured a US$85m loan under an agreement that will see it supply up to 32,500tpa of manganese sulphate to General Motors’ Ultium battery plant.

It adds to US$30m in project funding committed by Stellantis, which includes take-or-pay offtake commitments for 45,000tpa of HPMSM over a five-year period.

Element 25 has been working to secure the balance of funding for the project’s construction costs, estimated in a 2023 feasibility study to be around US$289m.