Name of the Project
Chvaletice manganese project (CMP).

Location
About 90 km east of Prague, in Czechia.

Project Owner/s
Euro Manganese.

Project Description
A feasibility study, published in July 2022, has determined that the CMP is uniquely positioned to provide a secure, traceable and responsibly produced supply of high-purity manganese products to the European electric-vehicle market.

The study is based on the reprocessing of historic tailings without the requirement of any hard-rock mining, crushing or milling. The study envisages a 25-year operation producing 1.19-million tonnes of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal, about two-thirds of which is expected to be converted into high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate on site.

Saleable product includes 2.5-million tonnes of high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate, or HPMSM (32.34% manganese), and 372 300 t of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal (99.9% manganese) over the life of the project, averaging 98 600 t/y of HPMSM and 14 890 t/y of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal.

New and refurbished infrastructure that will be built to service the project includes:

• a tailings excavation and handling facility;
• a south and north site connection utility bridge for transporting tailings slurry, return water pipes and the tube conveyor that returns a mixture of nonmagnetic tailings and washed leach residue to the residue dry stacking area;
• enclosed and winterised process plant buildings, various reagent storage facilities and a product warehouse;
• an upgraded rail spur system with related loading/unloading facilities;
• an internal road network;
• an incoming electrical 400 kV high-voltage grid connection, including transformers, GIS switchgear and local distribution step-down transformers;
• a process equipment maintenance workshop;
• a mobile fleet maintenance workshop;
• spare parts and maintenance supply warehouses;
• a comprehensive water management system and on-site laboratories; and
• general administrative offices.

Potential Job Creation
The project expects to employ about 400 people during operation.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.75-billion and an internal rate of return of 24.9%, with a 3.6-year payback.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital is estimated at $757.3-million, including contingencies of $103.2-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Plant commissioning is expected to start in 2026, with production expected to start in 2027.

Latest Developments
Euro Manganese has signed definitive agreements with OMRF, which is managed by Orion Resource Partners Group, for $100-million in nondilutive financing to advance the project.

The funding is divided in two $50-million components comprising a loan and a royalty.

Euro Manganese president and CEO Matthew James has described the transaction as transformative, stating that the funding package facilitates the best possible pathway to a final investment decision.

“The nondilutive, tranche structure minimises [the] cost of funds and reduces future project financing requirements,” he says.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Tetra Tech (feasibility study) – tel +1 626 351 4664; BGRIMM Technology Group (lead process plant design engineer) – tel +86 10 6329 9888 or email DIB@bgrimm.com; Tractebel (Czech and European cost inputs, localisation); GET and Bilfinger Tebodin Czech Republic (environmental services) – tel +49 621 459 2377; and Sudop (railway infrastructure design) – tel +420 267 094 301 or email group@sudop-group.cz.

Contact Details for Project Information
Euro Manganese, tel +1 604 681 1010 or email info@mn25.ca.