In all of the excitement surrounding battery metals, there is one essential ingredient that often gets overlooked.
Manganese is a hard, brittle metal that is usually found in combination with iron. It functions as a transition metal with multiple industrial alloy uses, most notably in stainless steels by improving strength, workability, and durability.
But it is the increasingly important role that manganese is set to play in the battery metal revolution that is getting investors more excited, and even more so after electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla announced its plans to lower the cost of its battery production by eliminating cobalt in favour of higher manganese concentrations.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has outlined plans to produce a battery with a cathode chemistry mixture of two-thirds nickel and one-third manganese, which could allow the firm to make a more accessible, $25,000 car.
Producing manganese for a giant like Tesla won’t be an easy task, particularly in North America. China currently dominates global production, and any company trying to produce the metal outside of China will have to compete on cost.
Canadian firm Manganese X Energy Corp (TSX-V:MN, OTCQB:MNXXF) is aiming to be a provider to the electric vehicle (EV) battery space. The group’s unique purification process has produced 99.95% purity of manganese sulfate from its Battery Hill project in New Brunswick. Its ultimate goal is to be a provider of battery material to the North American supply chain.
In an interview with Proactive, CEO Martin Kepman shared his insights into the future of the battery metals space and why being a North American supplier is so important in the current climate.
Proactive: Can you give us a quick introduction to the company and the Battery Hill project?
Martin Kepman: Sure. In 2016, we purchased a manganese property strategically located in Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada. Battery Hill consists of 1,228 hectares with 55 claims and is one of the largest manganese carbonate properties in North America. It is strategically located five kilometres (three miles) from the TransCanada highway and 12 miles from the Maine border, with access to the St Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes shipping channels. It has excellent access to railways and electricity.
We were forward-thinking, definitely ahead of the curve, as we envisioned that a high purity, low contaminant manganese EV cathode product would become an integral part of the upcoming EV revolution, noting at the time that manganese was the forgotten battery mineral. Taking this all into consideration, we developed our mission statement of “striving to become the first publicly traded mining company in Canada and the US to commercialize EV high purity manganese.” Our vision was, and still is, that manganese is vital to the future of EV cathodes, and its use will help protect the planet, as manganese is carbon-free and environmentally friendly.
Let’s shift focus to the battery metals space. You’ve said that manganese has the potential to disrupt the lithium-ion battery space. How? Why should we replace lithium-ion batteries?
Manganese is a candidate for disruption in the lithium-ion battery space. Manganese is a great stabilizer and has elemental qualities that have the potential to improve density, capacity, rechargeability, safety and battery longevity.
The timing for establishing a North American manganese resource could not be better. With the global push for greener technology and lessening the carbon footprint, Manganese X is poised for leadership in providing a domestic supply of manganese for the rechargeable battery industry, everything from the small consumer batteries in electronic devices, smartphones and energy storage power reserves, to the EV and hybrid electric vehicle industry.
Can you expand upon the purification process Manganese X has developed? What makes it particularly unique?
Over the past five years of extensive research and development, along with our research contractor Kemetco Research, we achieved a milestone of producing a 99.95% high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate, with EV compliant contaminant levels. This product is in demand as a precursor to the cathode in battery construction. It is important to note that our manganese ore is a carbonate as opposed to manganese oxide ore, utilized by the majority of world producers. The carbonate process, which we use, is more environmentally friendly when compared to the oxide process. The metallurgical extraction methodology is a very intricate process as the technical specs for EV battery usage are extremely stringent. There are few other manganese companies able to achieve this high purity standard. We are committed to produce an end product that is environmentally green, one that will contribute to the containment of climate change.
We have also developed a game-changing extraction process, which means major cost savings and innovative flow sheet processes integral to our upcoming preliminary economic assessment at Battery Hill. This process means we process and convert our manganese carbonate directly into a high purity compound chemical product powder called high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate, which is Selenium-free.
The majority of the other manganese producers firstly produce an EMM metal either with 99.7% or 99.9% purity, but Selenium is very toxic to the environment. They then convert that metal into the end product high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate. We have streamlined and reduced integral processes and costs.
We know that China is the dominant producer of manganese globally. How can North American companies develop its own supply chain and have its product compete in the battery metals space?
A dominant 90% of high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate precursor to the cathode (which we have already successfully prototyped in bench tests) is produced by China. It is obvious that there are major supply problems with China that will most likely continue. Containers from China have increased in price by three to four times with major delivery delays of six months or more, and predictions are that these major shortages will continue for some time.
It is important to note that our end product, high purity manganese sulphate, will potentially be in high demand with a supply deficit anticipated within the next year. Not surprisingly, there has been a major price increase. Experts are predicting this supply deficit to reach a five-times supply shortage to meet demand by 2030.
I’m sure investors are wondering what can we expect to see in the upcoming PEA on Battery Hill?
The PEA is nearing completion. We are very optimistic from the preliminary results as indicated from our previous news releases and hopefully – upon successful completion of our PEA – will move rapidly towards a pilot project and either pre-feasibility or feasibility study.
Finally, who is the team behind Manganese X?
I’m the CEO at Manganese X. I have 34 years of consulting experience, having worked on a wide range of projects ranging from software, soft goods, printing, food to mining. I’ve become an expert in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of corporations for strategic business plans, and become something of a specialist in turnarounds.
I’m proud of assembling key people to minimize risk thus resulting in maximizing return on investment. Some of the key members of our team include Roger Dahn, our chairman, who has over 30 years of experience in the mining and exploration industry with Noranda and Hemlo, most recently with Tri-Star Resources. Roger was previously our vice president Exploration and has worked on Battery Hill since 2016; he continues to assist our current vice president Perry Mackinnon on all drill programs.
Perry has been involved in all of our drill programs since 20116. He is an accredited professional geologist with over 30 years of experience in the mining industry, particularly in the East Coast of Canada. Dr Luisa Moreno also assisted us with her expertise in our material processing and metallurgy; Robert Tjandra brings along his vast experience about the development of EV and energy storage including sustainable mining development on the board, and Jay Richardson serves as our chief financial officer. His marketing and financial expertise will help bring our projects to fruition.
Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas