TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian junior Rocher Deboule Minerals plans to start preliminary feasibility and baseline studies for environmental permitting at its Artillery Peak manganese project, in Arizona, early in 2010, the company said on Tuesday.

Also, if it can arrange the necessary finance, the firm will continue process development through pilot plant work.

The Artillery Peak resource is considered to be the largest-known low-grade deposit in the south-western US, and the company has completed an NI 43-101 resource estimate, which includes 10,87-million tons of indicated resources, at 4,46% manganese, for 1,07-billion pounds of manganese.

There are also 96,93-million tons in the inferred category, at 4,52% manganese, for 9,66-billion pounds.

The resource remains open in all directions and the firm is planning an “aggressive” drilling programme early next year to establish new resources, as well as upgrading the current resources into the measured and indicated categories.

Rocher Deboule completed a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the project in August, which suggested that the project could potentially become the world's lowest-cost producer of electrolytic manganese.

Manganese is used to produce iron and steel and, despite the strategic nature of the metal, there is no current production in the US or Canada.

Almost all (97,44%) of the supply of electrolytic manganese comes from China at the moment, according to the company.

According to the PEA, the project would cost about $90-million to build, the mine would have a 17-year mine life and the plant size has been set at 3 500 t/d, although it could be expanded to meet increased demand.

The operation would produce 50 000 t of metal a year and would have a cash operating cost of around $0,44/lb of manganese.

Shares in Rocher Deboule gained 7,3% on Tuesday, to C$0,22 apiece on the TSX Venture Exchange by 15:32 in Toronto.

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