TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian junior Rocher Deboule Minerals estimates it could produce electrolytic manganese from its Artillery Peak project, in Arizona, for less than $0,50/lb, which would put it among the lowest-cost producers of the vital steelmaking ingredient.

In fact, at any cost, Artillery would still be the only producing manganese mine in the US or Canada, which means the firm would definitely be able to sell its product domestically, stripping out additional costs like crossborder taxes, CEO Larry Reaugh said in an interview from Vancouver.

Despite the strategic nature of the metal, the US currently imports all its manganese from countries like South Africa, Gabon and nations in Central and South America.

Rocher has recently completed an NI 43-101-compliant resource estimate on Artillery Peak, which includes more than one-billion pounds of indicated manganese resources, plus around 9,6-billion in the inferred category, and the company is now working on a scoping study that, it hopes, will prepare the way for a feasibility study and utimately mine construction.

The deposit is understood to be one of the biggest single known deposits of low-grade manganese in the continental US, “and we believe the potential to increase the deposit is excellent,” Reaugh said.

At around 4,5% to 5% overall, the deposit is low grade compared with manganese deposits in, say, South Africa.

That said, extensive studies on the Artillery material, including by the US Bureau of Mines, have proved that recoveries in the high 90% range are achievable, and in very short timeframes.

The company expects to use sulphuric acid in a column leach, or vat leach, and is confident it can achieve 95% recoveries, Reaugh said.

“The material doesn't require any grinding or crushing, you would just run it through a hammer mill. And it seems to work well on large particle sizes.”

This, together with nearby power and water supply and existing road infrastructure, will help keep capital costs low.

Overall, the firm is estimating that mining and milling will cost about $0,10/lb, to get the material in solution.

Rocher Deboule is now working to finalise a purification process, which would allow the company to economically electroplate the solution.

“We know that it is currently costing about 85 to 87c/lb for the Chinese to produce electrolytic manganese from their low grade deposits, before export taxes and shipping,” Reaugh said.

“And we think we can come in under 50c/lb, and we would be producing for the domestic market.”

The scoping study under way will include initial work on studies that will be required for permit, the flow chart, mill site location and a capital cost estimate.

Once the scoping study is wrapped up, the company expects to move on to additional drilling, and at the same time begin work on a feasibility study.

Rocher Deboule recently raised C$1-million in a private placement, which is expected to see the company through the scoping study and metallurgical work, and possibly cover some drilling.

Reaugh said he doesn't expect to have trouble raising additional cash when the time comes.

The manganese market has “definitely bottomed”, with most producers barely breaking even at current prices of around $1,10, he said.

However, Reaugh is confident the price will recover to top the $2,00 mark, likely in the next 12 to 18 months.

Besides the Artillery Peak project, Rocher Deboule also has iron-oxide-copper-gold, niobium and manganese assets in British Columbia, Canada.