Element 25 Ltd (ASX:E25) has shipped 35,002 tonnes of Butcherbird manganese concentrate from Port Hedland aboard the MV Aquamarine SW on 24 May 2022.
The contract price received was higher than for previous shipments due to the buoyant prevailing manganese markets, which helped to offset the higher than forecast diesel and shipping costs.
Manganese ore markets have remained strong through Q2 2022 with 44% index material remaining well above US$7 / dmtu (dry metric tonne unit) CIF Tianjin.
Moreover, feedback on the handling properties of E25 concentrate ore remains positive from logistics providers to consumers.
A further shipment of approximately 35 to 40kt of normal contract material is expected to be despatched prior to the end of June 2022.
E25’s marketing team is looking for opportunities to place additional conventional and non-conventional material into the current market whilst strong market conditions prevail.
Process plant optimisation
E25 has been undertaking rectification works around the primary comminution circuit to alleviate throughput bottlenecks caused by material handling challenges due to high clay content feed.
The first stage of this work has culminated in the mobilisation to site of a scalping screen and radial stacker conveyors to allow clay rich ore feed to be better managed through the front end of the plant and eliminate one of the biggest challenges in achieving nameplate throughput volumes.
The units are scheduled to arrive on site on 27 May 2022 and will be installed and commissioned immediately.
This is the first of a series of steps identified in the recent review which are expected to lead to improved throughput volumes and maximise production from the installed plant and equipment.
Stage 2 expansion
The strategy around the development of the Butcherbird Project has consistently included an expansion of current production to take advantage of the large resource, which has a mine life of 42 years whilst utilising only 20% of the identified resources.
As part of the optimisation studies being undertaken on the plant, E25 has been conducting engineering design work on the expansion, focussing initially on the primary (dry) comminution stage(s) and the final beneficiation step which currently utilises optical ore sorters.
As part of the review process, dense media separation (DMS) is being assessed as an alternative to ore sorters to provide more consistent results in terms of both manganese recovery and grade.
The results of this work will provide guidance on engineering design decisions for Stage 2 expansion works.
Project team focus
E25’s operations team continues to focus on delivering sustained nameplate production.
The business development team is focussing on E25’s multi-stage development strategy, including a Stage 2 expansion of the concentrate business in parallel with the Stage 3 development of a conversion facility to convert the concentrate material into HPMSM for electric vehicle EV batteries to power the global transition away from fossil fuel powered mobility.
Manganese is emerging as an increasingly important ingredient for EV batteries, with potential supply constraints for nickel and cobalt forcing battery manufacturers to look to high manganese cathodes to produce the vast amount of cathode material required by the EV industry in coming years.
Butcherbird is ideally placed to feed this potential demand, with advanced flowsheet development work undertaken in 2019 and 2020 confirming a simple leach process for Butcherbird ores which, when combined with offsets, will target the world’s first Zero Carbon Manganese for EV cathode manufacture.
E25 released a scoping study in January 2022 to update the market prior to the release of the Feasibility Study (FS) which is currently being completed.