Major boost for South32 manganese strategy

South32’s Hermosa project has been awarded a grant of up to $US166 million ($243.6 million) from the US Department of Energy (DOE).

This funding will support the potential development of a commercial-scale manganese production facility.

The DOE grant, which is part of the Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing program, will cover 30 per cent of the facility’s costs on a cost-share basis, subject to final negotiations.

“The DOE grant will help advance development of our state-of-the-art, commercial scale battery-grade manganese production facility,” South32 Hermosa president Pat Risner said.

“This project has the potential to provide a reliable, lower carbon and cost-effective domestic option for manganese products within the electric vehicle battery supply chain that currently relies entirely on foreign imports.”

Manganese ore mining has been non-existent in America since the 1970s, with 95 per cent of the current production of battery-grade manganese in China.

South32 said Hermosa could be scaled up as the only fully integrated source of battery-grade manganese (HPMSM) for EV battery chemistries sufficient to supply the emerging North American market.

The company is actively engaging potential customers to advance product qualifications for battery manufacturing, having signed multiple non-binding memorandums of understanding for future supply agreements.

Meanwhile, construction of a manganese decline to facilitate bulk sampling through a demonstration plant is currently underway, with access expected by the end of 2025.

“This grant highlights how important Hermosa and Santa Cruz County are to boosting America’s energy security in a way that creates economic opportunities across southern Arizona,” Risner said.

“Hermosa’s planned, state-of-the-art manganese production facility can help us safely onshore development of a critical mineral.”

The funding follows a $20 million award to the Hermosa project earlier this year from the Department of Defense’s Defense Production Act Investment (DPAI) program to help accelerate the domestic production of battery-grade manganese.