As global electrification continues to ramp up, decision makers are increasingly paying attention to more stable and responsible sources of raw materials, particularly for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, according to Element 25 (ASX:E25) Managing Director Justin Brown.
“Stakeholders in the electrification of the vehicle fleet are looking for carmakers to use raw materials from areas that have tight controls on environmental and governance issues,” Brown said. “For example, if you source your manganese from Australia, you have a much better chance of understanding the standards that are applied to the extraction of the material, in terms of environmental and social governance, than you do perhaps in certain countries in other parts of the world.”
Element 25 owns and operates the Butcherbird project in Western Australia. Butcherbird hosts the largest onshore manganese deposit in Australia and began producing high-quality manganese concentrate in 2021.
The company’s next step is building a high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPSMSM) facility in Louisiana, US, that it will feed with concentrate from Butcherbird in order to supply the EV battery market. Element 25 currently has offtake agreements with global EV manufacturers General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) for its low-carbon HPSMSM.
“It’s an exciting time for manganese,” Brown said. “You’re going to need especially more manganese as the battery chemistry shifts to more stable raw material supply chains, of which manganese promises to play a really important part.”
Watch the full interview with Justin Brown, managing director of Element 25, above.
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