Canada-based battery materials company Euro Manganese (EMN) reported that the first shipment of the components of its demonstration plant to be sited in Chvaletice, Czech Republic, is underway from China, where the components of the plant are being assembled.
The first consignment was shipped on 30 April 2022 and the final consignment is expected to be shipped in the coming weeks. Both shipments are being made by ocean freight from China, a change from rail, due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Delivery of the initial shipment is expected on site in June. Assembly of the demonstration plant modules will commence upon delivery. Completion of commissioning and the start of production from the demonstration plant is targeted for September.
The demonstration plant is designed to produce large-scale samples of high-purity manganese products for use in the supply chain qualification process of the company’s products. Approximately 55% of the first year’s production has been allocated to five prospective customers who have signed non-binding memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with EMN.
Located approximately 90 km east of Prague in the Czech Republic, the Chvaletice Manganese Project entails re-processing a significant manganese deposit contained in waste (tailings) from a decommissioned mine that operated between 1951 and 1975. The Chvaletice resource is the only sizeable, classified resource of manganese in the European Union.
Chvaletice is not a mining project. It is a unique and innovative waste recycling initiative that avoids the negative impacts of traditional hard rock mining. As the project recycles historic mine tailings, it will clean up the contaminated site and eliminate a longstanding source of water pollution.
