Manganese X Energy (TSXV: MN) announced having received an encouraging progress report from Kemetco Research, a company that is working to develop a flow sheet to produce a battery-grade manganese product for the electric vehicle and energy storage industries.
In detail, Kemetco reported that it has achieved a MnSO4 purity of >99.8% with low contamination factors in the final manganese sulfate product.
High purity is required by the EV and back up storage industries
Assay tests are currently being performed to confirm the required commercial specifications of impurities. “Also additional upgrading techniques and approaches are being aggressively pursued,” the companies said in a media statement.
The project entails that Kemetco uses mineral from Manganese X’s Battery Hill property located in Woodstock, New Brunswick.
Battery Hill consists of 55 claims totalling 1,228 hectares. It encompasses all or part of five manganese zones, Iron Ore Hill, Moody Hill, Sharpe Farm, Wakefield and Maple Hill.
Research has shown that the area hosts a series of banded iron formations that collectively constitute one of the largest manganese resources in North America, approximately 194,000,000 tonnes.