Element 25 lands major US DoE grant to boost domestic battery material supply
Ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, Australia’s Element 25 (ASX: E25) has wrapped up $268 million in funding under the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) Battery Materials Processing Grant program.
The new agreement will support the construction of E25’s battery-grade high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) facility in the US state of Louisiana, which will help bring domestic production of a key critical battery raw material to the US.
The funding is in addition to the $185m already committed by General Motors (GM) and multinational automotive manufacturing company Stellantis.
‘Vote of confidence’
Managing director Justin Brown said the award of the grant is a vote of confidence in E25 and the Louisiana plant.
“This grant from the US DoE represents a major milestone in our development of the Louisiana HPMSM project and adds to the commitments already received from GM and Stellantis, which include both offtake and financing agreements in support of the refinery,” Mr Brown said.
“The grant will fund up to half of the construction capital costs for the project and, when combined with existing commitments, will propel the project towards financial close and commencement of construction.”
Commencement imminent
The grant forms a key element of E25’s financing strategy for the facility, and the project execution team will now work to finalise the project implementation schedule.
The commencement date for the project under the grant contract is 1 April 2025, with work able to commence up to 90 days prior.
The Battery Materials Processing program aims to provide grants for battery materials processing to ensure that the US has a viable processing industry.
WA-sourced ore
E25 plans to produce up to 135,000 tonnes per annum of HPMSM for US electric vehicle supply chains from manganese ore sourced from its Butcherbird mine in Western Australia.
The company secured a loan of approximately $138m in 2023 under an agreement for the annual supply of up to 32,500 metric tonnes of manganese sulphate to GM’s Ultium battery plant.
It has also received commitments from Stellantis that include take-or-pay offtake commitments for 45ktpa of HPMSM over five years and approximately $48m in project funding.
Innovative process
E25’s Louisiana plans include a 230,000-square-foot HPMSM refining facility that will employ an innovative process to produce approximately 65,000 metric tonnes of HPMSM annually.
It will be one of the first commercial facilities to produce HPMSM in the US, reducing current dependency on Chinese sources.
The proposed facility is supported by the State of Louisiana, which in acknowledgement of its significant local benefits has approved a substantial incentives package.