SOUTH32 said its Hermosa project in Arizona was in line to receive a $166m grant from the US Department of Energy which the miner will put towards the construction of a manganese production facility.
South32 recently approved Hermosa, a $2.16bn zinc-lead-silver project with potential manganese production from the project’s Clark oxide deposit.
“We welcome this grant from the US Department of Energy, which recognises Clark’s potential to supply battery-grade manganese to the emerging North American market,” said Graham Kerr, CEO of South32.
“Hermosa represents a regional scale project with the potential to produce commodities critical to a low-carbon future across multiple deposits for decades to come,” he said.
The US Energy Department plans to award $3bn to 25 battery manufacturing sector projects in 14 states as the Biden administration works to shift the supply chain away from China, according to a report by Reuters on Friday.
The awards fund battery-grade processed critical minerals, components, battery manufacturing, and recycling, and will generate $16bn in total investment for the projects and support 12,000 production and construction jobs, the department said.
“Mineral security is essential for climate security,” said White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi. “This sets us up to lead on the next generation of battery technologies – from solid state to other new chemistries.”
In addition to South32, New York listed lithium producer Albemarle is set to receive $67m for a project in North Carolina to produce commercial quantities of anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries. Multinational Honeywell is set to receive $126.6m to build a commercial-scale facility in Louisiana to produce a key electrolyte salt needed for lithium batteries.
In a separate development the US government published an environmental report for Australian firm ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium/boron project in the US.
The US Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) final environmental impact statement sets in motion a review period of at least 30 days before a record of decision – essentially a mine’s permit – can be issued, according to a report by Reuters.
Sibanye-Stillwater, the Johannesburg headquartered company, has an option to invest in half of the project on approval of the environmental permit and an updated feasibility study.
