Manganese producer, Element 25 has delivered multiple breakthroughs in its efforts to tap into the flourishing lithium-ion battery industry by producing a high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate product, or “HPMSM” from its Butcherbird mine in Western Australia.
Optimisation test work on a flowsheet designed to convert manganese concentrate from the mine into HPMSM has reportedly reduced reagent consumption and waste production. The outcome could potentially result in reduced operational and capitals costs for the venture, according to the company.
Element 25 has a multi-stage strategy in place to unravel the full value of its Butcherbird project where a 263 million tonne resource grading more than 10 per cent manganese oxide has been defined.
Butcherbird recently achieved a ‘steady state’ of manganese output, with the first two shipments of manganese concentrate from the mine also recently shipped to a smelter in China owned by Element 25’s offtake partner.
Element 25 is looking to expand the concentrate business as part of ‘stage two’ of its strategy that could see either a doubling or trebling of plant throughput at Butcherbird, according to the company.
Under a subsequent ‘stage three’ development, Element 25 aspires to convert concentrate material from Butcherbird into HPMSM for use in electric vehicle batteries.
Management says recent testing of the flowsheet in the HPMSM conversion process has hit the bullseye, delivering numerous positive outcomes for the intriguing venture.
The testing showed a significant reduction in reagent consumption and complexity of the HPMSM conversion process, when compared with a previous flowsheet design.
Importantly, management says the modifications to the flowsheet are envisaged to reduce capital and operating costs for the proposed HPMSM conversion facility.
The testing produced high extraction rates reaching up to 98 per cent despite utilising a different reagent to the one used in previous testing. The company says the new reagent is more readily available, it is cheaper and simplifies the HPMSM conversion process. It also reportedly provides benefits from a carbon intensity perspective.
The tests also showed higher impurity removal during the primary purification stage of the process. The outcome leads to smaller reagent intake and a simplification of the process, according to Element 25.
Management says the amended flowsheet also produced a 50 per cent reduction in the volumes of solid waste generated in the process. The accomplishment simplifies the solid-liquid separation design in the flowsheet and reduces the size and complexity of the mechanical equipment required for the HPMSM conversion facility.
Curiously, Element 25 believes the solid waste contains a high iron content that could potentially be re-purposed as feedstock in the manufacture of other smelter products. The innovation could in turn lower the environmental impact of the HPMSM conversion process.
Element 25 Managing Director, Justin Brown said:“The optimisation work completed in this phase represents a genuine breakthrough in terms of simplifying the flowsheet and significantly reducing regent consumption and residue production both key drivers of production costs. The composition of the residue stream has also been improved whereby the Company is able to have meaningful conversations with parties around repurposing the residue for consumption in complementary processes rather than simply dumping the material in the landscape, an important improvement in terms of environmental outcomes.”
Element 25 believes the flowsheet design improvements could play a crucial role in maximising the economic potential of developing the HPMSM conversion facility.
The company is now set to incorporate the flowsheet modifications into ongoing pre-feasibility works that will evaluate the conversion of the existing concentrate product from Butcherbird into battery grade HPMSM.
The company says the pre-feasibility study, or “PFS” is anticipated for completion next year.
In the meantime, Element 25 is considering undertaking a scoping study to demonstrate the scale of the economic opportunity presented from producing HPMSM from manganese concentrates at Butcherbird. The PFS would then follow.
A subsequent feasibility study would then be used to generate comprehensive details for the proposed operation in support of offtake and financing decisions.
Element 25 says that by 2040 some 58 per cent of new vehicles are forecast be either electric or hybrid. With demand for lithium-ion batteries showing no signs of abating, the company appears well placed to capitalise on the burgeoning sector as it continues to kick goals in its efforts to produce battery-grade manganese at Butcherbird.
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By Matt Birney
