American Manganese Inc (CVE:AMY) (OTCQB:AMYZF) (FRA:2AM) said it has improved its manganese processing flowsheet following the recent research and development on the Wenden Stockpile reclamation and advanced material processing bench-scale project, which was funded by the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).
The company said it expects the flowsheet enhancements to further improve process efficiencies and reduce capital costs of a potential future commercial operation, as recent metallurgical bench-scale studies that focused on solid-liquid separation demonstrated that the original flowsheet can be optimized.
“We continue to demonstrate our advanced manganese processing capabilities on low-grade manganese resources through our project with the DLA. Our work suggests that despite its low grade, the Wenden Stockpile may be a valuable manganese resource for the US, which is now 100% import-dependent for manganese in all forms,” American Manganese CEO Larry Reaugh said in a statement.
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“It’s important that we maintain our methodical approach to enable an efficient and cost-effective flowsheet for treating Wenden Stockpile material to produce electrolytic manganese metal on a commercial scale,” Reaugh added.
American Manganese noted that as of the project start date, it had collected 14 selective samples from the US National Defense Stockpile in Wenden, Arizona and completed leach studies on the individual samples and a blended master composite.
The company said it achieved up to 99% extraction of manganese from the leach studies and determined optimal processing conditions.
It added that further bench-scale tests for the Wenden Stockpile reclamation and advanced material processing bench-scale project will include pregnant leach solution purification, tailings characterization, manganese carbonate precipitation, and electrolytic manganese metal testing.
It noted the project timeline is on schedule.
American Manganese is a leader in recovering key metals from scrap cathode material rejected by battery manufacturers. The critical metals tech company is focused on recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) and then selling the materials back to the companies.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com