VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Junior manganese producer Meridian Mining has secured an offtake agreement for about 20 000 t/y, or about one-third of the planned 2017 production of high-grade manganese from its Brazil Manganese Corporation (BMC) project.
The TSX-V-listed miner said the sales contract will comprise two shipments to be completed before the end of the year.
The first is for 10 000 t to be delivered in September, and the second 10 000 t to be delivered in December.
Meridian advised that the manganese will be priced at a premium to the benchmark, given the high-grade nature of its product. According to information provided by Metal Bulletin on Tuesday, the benchmark price for manganese is $5.76/t for 44% content manganese, or $253.44/t, including cost, insurance and freight delivered to Tianjin, China.
With the new contract, Meridian's sales orders for 2017 are 18 799 t sold and delivered and 32 463 t committed.
"With commissioning of our pilot plant expected in the coming weeks, we are well on the way to growing production capacity to 50 000 t/y, helping us to better address the growing global demand for high-grade manganese,” Meridian president and CEO Anthony Julien said in a statement.
High-grade manganese has several applications beyond steel production, including the manufacture of batteries and use as a fertiliser.