Materials technology company ChemX (ASX: CMX) has provided an update on the development of its High Purity Manganese Sulphate Monohydrate (HPMSM) project in South Australia.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- ChemX has achieved 99.7% manganese sulphate purity in the initial testwork program for its High Purity Manganese Sulphate Monohydrate (HPMSM) project
- The very positive result continues to build on ChemX’s South Australian battery materials strategy
- Manganese is becoming increasingly important in lithium battery chemistries, with demand expected to grow significantly
- Testwork supports plans for ongoing exploration at the Jamieson Tank Manganese Project on the Eyre Peninsula
Testing on a composite sample of ore taken from historical reverse circulation (RC) drilling at ChemX’s Jamieson Tank manganese project on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia by previous tenement owners, produced manganese sulphate crystals with 99.7% purity. This initial testwork program was designed to identify the efficacy of the chosen process. To achieve near specification quality without any purification steps is very encouraging.
Manganese is an essential component of the Lithium battery, in particular Nickel-Cobalt Manganese (NCM) batteries. NCM batteries are the predominant battery chemistry utilised by major auto manufacturers including Volkswagen1 (the world’s largest vehicle maker), Tesla and Renault stating that manganese is a key part of their future development.
Further work on the production of HPMSM is planned once beneficiation work has been completed on ore samples from the recent drilling campaign at the Jamieson Tank Manganese Project.
ChemX Materials Managing Director David Leavy said: “The outcomes from this initial testwork program are very encouraging, providing ChemX with significant confidence that manganese from the Jamieson Tank project is well suited for further processing into HPMSM for lithium battery cathodes.
“This is a fantastic result and is in line with our strategy of producing high-value materials for the energy transition and decarbonisation markets.”
