American Manganese Prepares for Final Stages of the Wenden Stockpile Reclamation and Advanced Material Processing Project
- AMY Project is Funded by the Defense Logistics Agency, Manager of the U.S. National Defense Stockpile
- Purified Manganese Sulfate Solution Prepared as Feed for Electrolytic Manganese Metal Production
July 21, 2021 - Surrey, BC - American Manganese Inc. (“AMY” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that its Wenden Stockpile Reclamation and Advanced Material Processing project, awarded in October 2020 by the United States Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), is nearing completion, as the Company prepares its purified manganese sulfate solution as feed for electrowinning to generate electrolytic manganese metal (EMM). The DLA awarded the project (https://americanmanganeseinc.com/u-s-defense-logistics-agency-funds-american-manganese-inc-to-advance-manganese-stockpile/) to perform work on the United States Government’s 322,000 metric ton manganese stockpile located near Wenden, Arizona with the goal of producing EMM for the nation.
American Manganese has since conducted bench-scale tests on Wenden stockpile material to confirm the viability of using the Company’s patented manganese recovery process (US Patent No. 8,460,631 - https://patents.google.com/patent/US8460631B2/en) to produce EMM. To date, the project’s highlights include:
- Collecting 14 representative samples from the Wenden Stockpile weighing a total of 550 pounds (December 18, 2020 - https://americanmanganeseinc.com/american-manganese-shipped-manganese-samples-from-wenden-national-defense-stockpile-in-arizona/)
- Achieving up to 99% extraction of manganese during leaching studies (February 4, 2021 - https://americanmanganeseinc.com/american-manganese-inc-achieves-99-manganese-extraction-for-u-s-defense-logistics-agency-wenden-stockpile-project/)
- Enhancing the Company’s original flowsheet which is expected to further improve process efficiencies and reduce capital costs (April 9, 2021 - https://americanmanganeseinc.com/american-manganese-improves-manganese-process-flowsheet-for-u-s-defense-logistics-agency-project/)
- Preparing purified manganese sulfate solution as feed for EMM production
“Our bench-scale project is intended to propose a model processing flowsheet for the DLA’s consideration in scaled up continuation work consistent with a future commercial processing facility,” said Larry Reaugh, President and CEO of American Manganese. “Following the completion of the project, I believe our Wenden Stockpile reclamation and advanced material processing flowsheet will demonstrate to the DLA the potential prospects for domestically produced EMM, which is currently zero, and help reduce U.S. manganese reliance on China.” According to the last publicly-released National Defense Stockpile Requirements Report (file:///C:/Users/sp/Downloads/764766.pdf), the U.S. Department of Defense rates the lack of EMM to the Defense Industrial Base during a national emergency as “Significant. There is no direct substitute for manganese in the production of aluminum alloys and some types of steel alloys.”
Since the development of American Manganese’s patented process for efficient recovery of manganese from lower grade resources, the manganese market has transformed with the rapid commercialization of electric vehicles. Stellantis, one of the world’s largest auto manufacturers, announced its €30 billion electrification strategy during its EV Day 2021 event and listed manganese as a key element for its electric vehicle batteries (https://www.mining-journal.com/energy-minerals-news/news/1413542/stellantis-ev-day-offers-further-boost-for-lithium-manganese). American Manganese’s patented manganese process is also the cornerstone technology in the development of the Company’s lithium-ion battery cathode recycling process -- RecycLiCo™ -- which has successfully demonstrated up to 100% extraction of lithium, nickel, manganese, and cobalt from lithium-ion battery cathode materials.
American Manganese Inc. is a critical metals company focused on the recycling of lithium-ion batteries with the RecycLiCo™ patented process. The RecycLiCo™ patented process was developed to offer a closed-loop and environmentally friendly solution for the recycling of cathode materials used in lithium-ion batteries. The recycling process provides high extraction and purity of cathode metals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and aluminum. The RecycLiCo™ process was designed with the goal to produce recycled battery products that could be seamlessly and directly integrated into the re-manufacturing of battery cathodes using minimal processing steps.
On behalf of Management
AMERICAN MANGANESE INC.
Larry W. Reaugh
President and Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: 778 574 4444
Email: [email protected]
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain “forward-looking statements”, which are statements about the future based on current expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward–looking statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate or true. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by law.
