Gold Lion Resources announced the development and exploration of a manganese mine in Morocco by signing a letter of intent to acquire a 50% interest in a mining license from Ermazon, a wholly owned subsidiary of Elcora Advanced Materials. 

Ermazon has applied for the exploitation license of a former French manganese concession, which includes the on-site infrastructure, facilities and up to 600t of stockpiled ores (31% Mn). The development of the project will determine whether the operation of the mine will be open-cast or underground.  Gold Lion and Elcora are focused on the global battery value chain through the development of battery raw materials and the recycling of primary Li-ion batteries. Gold Lion has recently introduced a new battery recycling technology with the intent to reduce mined raw materials by providing recycled materials for the Li-ion battery supply chain.  

The use of manganese in lithium-ion battery cathodes is compounded by EV market penetration rates and a move to high-manganese formulations in mid- to high-level EV models. The market share for manganese in batteries represents a small fraction of global manganese consumption, as the majority share is consumed in the production of ferroalloys used in steel products.  

Manganese was previously dubber the “forgotten metal” by niche manganese producers involved in the Li-ion supply chain. The growing attention to manganese in Li-ion batteries with OEMs stating intentions for high-manganese cathode formulations has now supported an increase in the development of brownfield manganese deposits destined for the high-purity manganese sulphate. Project Blue forecast the market share of batteries to grow rapidly and with the outlook for steel forecast to slow down compared to strong growth of the last two decades will account for close to 10% by 2050.