Infinity Stone Ventures Corp. has announced that it has acquired an option to acquire the Thor Manganite project on the Magdalene Islands in Quebec (the “Property”).
The Property, covering 698.4 hectares in two blocks of 581.5 hectares and 116.9 hectares, respectively, is highly prospective for manganite, an important manganese ore mineral. A historical report (the “Report”) on the Property’s larger, northern block identified ten diamond drill holes completed by Quebec Manganese Mines Limited, all of which were reported to have intersected significant manganese mineralization.
The Report indicated that there is “459,333 tons of mill feed ore, which, it is believed, will yield 153,111 tons of ferro-grade ore after beneficiation;” a statement accompanying these drilling records in the Report by the Chief of the Mineral Deposits Branch indicated that the “information supplied is insufficient to justify an opinion on the estimates of the ore of the Property“. Infinity Stone plans to verify the historical results on the Property through additional field work.
Several short shafts and an incline intercepted the sedimentary hosted manganite zone at shallow depths. At the time, a bulk sample was mined and shipped to a steel foundry to determine if the material was suitable for steel making. The high manganite content was not suitable for steel making, but in present day, manganese is important element in electric vehicle (EV) battery production.
Manganese has seen increased demand and prices over the past years with the push towards electrification and EVs. About 88% of manganese ore is used to produce alloys (ferromanganese and silicomanganese) for integrated or mini- mill steel production (79%) or in foundry and welding (9%). However, more recently there has been renewed interest in downstream manganese processing based on the anticipated growth of manganese in lithium-ion batteries.
