A question mark hangs over the decision of the State-owned Industrial Development Corporation to fund the beneficiation of manganese ore in neighbouring Botswana ahead of taking a funding decision on the beneficiation of South Africa’s own manganese ore into high-pressure manganese sulphate monohydrate, or HPMSM.
There are currently at least three initiatives aimed at producing battery-grade HPMSM for supply to the battery electric vehicle market. The facility where local South African HPMSM production is planned is in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, and has been described as an industrial jewel. But this initiative has not yet received backing from the IDC, even though they have been in funding discussion for some time. In contract, a Canada-based company with a mine in Botswana is already in line to receive cornerstone IDC funding.
Even if the IDC decides to fund the South African project as well, heads will likely be scratched as to why the State-owned IDC should see fit to fund a direct foreign competitor for a local tax-paying South African beneficiation entrepreneur.