Manganese could make its mark in the battery electric vehicle (EV) arena by displacing cobalt to a large extent in many of the cathode formulations, where the bulk of battery metals are used. The Junior Indaba heard on Wednesday that manganese, which South Africa hosts in abundance, is in a race with nickel and aluminium to win the favour of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) concerned about cobalt’s high concentration in a single country, where ethical issues also cloud its use.
