E25 Commences Butcherbird Stage 2 Expansion

Element 25 Limited (E25 or Company) (ASX: E25; OTCQX: ELMTF) announces it will immediately commence detailed design, planning and procurement for expansion of manganese ore production at its 100%-owned Butcherbird Mine in WA in line with the expansion Feasibility Study (FS) released earlier in January 2024¹.

Expansion of the processing facility at Butcherbird aligns with E25’s commissioning target date for its planned battery grade high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) project to be built in Louisiana, USA in partnership with General Motors LLC and Stellantis NV².

Activities over the next three months will focus on detailed engineering and design, project financing and finalising the required permitting to support the commencement of construction in line with the project schedule.

In parallel with expansion activities, the Company will suspend Butcherbird’s current production operations, aiming to reduce operational cash outflows and re-focus resources and available cash on implementing the expansion plan outlined in the FS. Recent weak manganese prices support this decision.

E25 Managing Director Justin Brown said: “Expanding the scale of operations at Butcherbird beyond our Stage 1 pilot plant has always been a part of our growth plans and given the outstanding metrics reported in the updated Feasibility Study released earlier this month, this is the ideal time to implement those plans to ensure we can increase production ahead of our Louisiana HPMSM facility commencing operation.

Given the current manganese price environment coupled with high interest rates and inflation, we will suspend current operations at Butcherbird to conserve resources and use available cash to achieve this goal. We understand this is a difficult decision for our employees, contractors and suppliers and not one we have made lightly, but it is intended to help E25 better position itself to reach its longer term goals.”

The current schedule anticipates operations to recommence in approximately 11 months, following project financing being secured, when E25 will increase annual production to 1.1 million tonnes per annum of manganese oxide concentrate. Further detail and an updated schedule will be provided at conclusion of front-end engineering and design (FEED) which has now commenced.

Click here for the full ASX Release

This article includes content from Element 25 Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.