Posted on 29 May 2024
Australia-listed miner Firebird Metals announced Tuesday it has received a critical safety permit for its battery-grade manganese sulphate project in Hunan, China.
The permit allows the company to build and operate the planned plant in Jinshi. It is one of three critical permits required to start construction. The other two are the environmental and energy permits, both expected by the end of June, Kallanish learns.
However, the company will need to obtain eight permits in total to run the plant. So far, Firebird has received the project initiation permit from China’s National Development and Reform Committee.
The company plans to make a final investment decision on the project in the second half of 2024, to enable operations to start in late 2025. The construction period is forecast to take 12-15 months.
“We are moving at a rapid pace on the ground in China and that is due to the hard work of our leading manganese team and the strong level of in-country support we have and continue to receive,” comments managing director Peter Allen. “Importantly, we continue to tick all the boxes in the delivery of our high-purity manganese sulphate strategy and have defined a low-cost, near-term pathway to production.”
The project will process manganese from Western Australia into cathode materials for lithium iron manganese phosphate (LMFP) batteries, primarily targeting the Chinese market. In Phase 1, it will produce 50,000 tonnes/year of manganese sulphate and 10,000 t/y of manganese tetroxide. In Phase 2, production will increase to 300,000 t/y of manganese sulphate.
Source:Kallanish
