Project Blue visited MMC's EMM plant and HP MSM pilot plant last week

The MMC plant in South Africa is the only EMM plant outside of China, with the added advantage of producing a selenium-free product. The plant has an annual capacity of 28ktpy, of which over 90% is exported to the international market, with Japan and the USA being the largest customers.

MMC has recently started development of a battery-grade manganese sulphate project, aiming to provide an ex-China supply of the material required for manganese-containing lithium-ion cathode formulations. As part of its long-term strategy, MMC plans to produce sulphate directly from EMM flakes, where the majority of the purity is achieved during the electrolytic process. This strategy allows MMC to provide the much-needed ex-China manganese sulphate supply to cathode producers and OEMs.

MMC’s second strategy includes a symbiotic relationship with the Cathode Materials Group (CMG) from the University of Limpopo. This partnership enables MMC to develop an ore-to-crystal process that is both efficient and high in purity. The CMG has pioneered the computational physics of battery particles, predominantly utilizing manganese in its structure.

MMC is one of a handful of Southern African projects aiming to produce high-purity, battery-grade manganese sulphate. The other two projects of interest include Giyani, which has recently announced the completion of seven out of nine processing modules at its pilot plant in Johannesburg, South Africa, with plans to commission the plant and then produce battery-grade manganese in Q4 2024 for offtake testing and qualification. A third project is Frontier Rare Earths, which has successfully produced battery-grade manganese sulphate from manganese sourced within a rare earth deposit in the Northern Cape of South Africa. Jupiter Mines, an Australian mining company, has also successfully produced battery-grade manganese sulphate crystals utilizing manganese ore from its Tshipi mine. However, Jupiter plans to set up a plant in the USA, aiming to supply North American manufacturers directly with an ore-to-sulphate product under the IRA benefits.

Scope emissions are rapidly becoming a requirement for materials entering the battery value chain, making the ore-to-battery-grade manganese sulphate method the most energy-efficient. However, not all manganese ores are the same; lower manganese content results in higher levels of iron and unwanted impurities such as calcium and magnesium, which end up as waste that needs to be discarded. Various projects that have successfully produced battery-grade manganese sulphate have opted to use a double crystallization method, where the extra crystallization step removes additional impurities. However, as reporting standards become stricter and companies change their purchasing strategies to include lower-scope emissions, some ex-China projects may face delays in coming online within expected timelines to produce a product that satisfies emission trading systems. Even so, Project Blue estimates a 200ktpy shortage of battery-grade manganese sulphate within an ex-China supply chain by 2034, which would require projects to come online sooner rather than later. Countries with abundant supplies of high-grade manganese ores, such as South Africa and Gabon, are well-positioned within the supply chain to produce battery-grade manganese sulphate of sufficient purity and within the scope of emissions required to offset any scope 3 emissions accumulated. The question is whether they can do so economically.