Euro Manganese (TSXV, ASX: EMN) says it’s gained its second off-take agreement in a week for the Chvaletice project in Czechia, the European Union’s sole large resource of the battery metal.
New Albany, Indiana-based Blue Grass Chemical Specialties is lining up for a portion of the project’s forecast 14,890 tonnes a year of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal (HPEMM) for seven years, according to the deal’s term sheet. HPEMM sold on Tuesday for about US$1,740 per tonne on the Shanghai Metals Market.
On Aug. 19, San Diego-based Wildcat Discovery Technologies said it plans to take a “significant” amount of the Chvaletice project’s output for seven years.
“The momentum for demand for Euro Manganese’s high-purity manganese from the Chvaletice project is gathering pace,” Euro Manganese CEO Matthew James said in a release.
“The fact that Blue Grass Chemical requires high-purity manganese metal for their existing operations, and potential for increased tonnages as they evaluate new opportunities, demonstrates the value of designing our flow sheet to produce both high-purity manganese metal and sulphate at Chvaletice, thus giving customers optionality for their manufacturing processes.”
High purity
The Chvaletice project also aims to produce 98,600 tonnes of high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) at 32.3% manganese. It was selling for US$800 to US$1,000 a tonne in Shanghai on Tuesday.
No specific tonnage amounts nor dollar figures were given in the news releases for either off-take.
Blue Grass is to pay for the HPMSM based on an index-adjusted Western benchmark price over a rolling three-month period since there’s no current published market index for HPEMM, according to the deal.
The company, which has produced specialty chemicals in numerous industries for 55 years, is testing a Euro Manganese sample before ratifying the agreement. Blue Grass makes manganese nitrate, a precursor to the manganese oxides used in battery production.
Euro Manganese envisions selling 2.5 million tonnes of HPMSM and 372,300 tonnes of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal over its life. It says the products will be high quality, secure, traceable and a Western supply source with strong environmental, social and governance credentials including a low carbon dioxide footprint.
Shares of Euro Manganese were flat by Tuesday afternoon in Toronto at 4.5¢ apiece. The company has a market capitalization of $18.1 million.
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