Manganese poised to make its mark as EV metal – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – June 5, 2019)

https://m.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Manganese could make its mark in the battery electric vehicle (EV) arena by displacing cobalt to a large extent in many of the cathode formulations, where the bulk of battery metals are used.

The Junior Indaba heard on Wednesday that manganese, which South Africa hosts in abundance, is in a race with nickel, cobalt and aluminium to win the favour of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) concerned about cobalt’s high concentration in a single country, where ethical issues also cloud its use. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The favourable positioning of manganese surfaced during a panel discussion on strategic metals, led by Impala Platinum mining executive and Women in Mining chairperson Thabile Makgala, and made up of Standard Bank commodities analyst Thabang Thlaku, Manganese Metal Company chief marketing officer Madelein Todd, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe executive director Paul Chimbodza and Ivanplats senior VP Gerick Mouton.

It was Todd who caught the attention of Mining Weekly Online when she outlined the exciting new potential trajectory for manganese, and, with lithium already home and dry as a strategic EV metal, Chimbodza stunned the audience with his revelation that Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe had moved at lightning speed from explorer to lithium producer with a long-term Chinese offtake agreement.

“All new generation EV batteries contain lithium. That’s the common denominator. But there are a variety of other materials, different cathode formulations. There are anodes in a battery as well,” said Todd.

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