Tesla's Potential North American Battery Metals Supply Chain Contenders -- Manganese

I have not spent a lot of time yet on the manganese miners as the manganese market is more driven by the steel market than EVs.

Below is an article I since published on Trend Investing.

* A Look At The Manganese Sector And Some Of The Main Miners

* Tesla's (TSLA) Battery Day delivered with a proposed cathode chemistry of one-third manganese and two-thirds nickel for batteries in its intermediate range vehicles.
* Tesla does have an inside connection to one potential source of useful manganese through Jeff Dahn. Manganese X Energy Corp. (OTCPK:MNXXF) (MN.V) owns the Battery Hill Project in New Brunswick, an early-stage manganese exploration project that is one province over from Dahn's Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. Manganese X has demonstrated an ability to produce high grade battery material out of its property with it yielding manganese sulphate with a purity exceeding 99.95%. The company has a Board Member and Director named Roger Dahn, who is the brother of Jeff Dahn.
* In 2016, Tesla partnered with a battery researcher working out of Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada by the name of Jeff Dahn. Dahn is one of the pioneering developers of the lithium-ion battery and has since been named Tesla's Head of Battery Research.

### **Manganese X Energy Corp. [TSXV:MN] (OTCPK:MNXXF)**

Manganese X say that "there is no manganese mine production in the United States or Canada."

Manganese X owns the Battery Hill Project in Woodstock New Brunswick, Canada. Their current market cap is C$41m. Here is the latest company presentation. Sounds promising.

* Manganese X owns the Battery Hill Project in New Brunswick, from which it has demonstrated an ability to produce high grade battery material yielding manganese sulphate with a purity exceeding 99.95%. Roger Dahn, who is the brother of Jeff Dahn. He stated:
* Elon Musk indicated the future requirements of manganese for Tesla by revamping the battery chemistry of the cathode to being 1/3 manganese and 2/3 nickel. Our Battery Hill manganese property has the potential to help satisfy Tesla’s needs. We’re excited to be commencing our drill program as previously announced (News Release dated September 15th 2020) later this week. Upon completion of the program, work will be initiated for the planned preliminary economic assessment (PEA) study for the project.
* https://money.tmx.com/en/quote/MN/news/5281234853296946/Manganese\_X\_Receives\_Metallurgical\_Results\_Demonstrating\_High\_Recovery\_Rate\_Improved\_Efficiency\_and\_Economics\_for\_EV\_Battery\_Usage
* https://money.tmx.com/en/quote/MN/news/5281234853296946/Manganese\_X\_Receives\_Metallurgical\_Results\_Demonstrating\_High\_Recovery\_Rate\_Improved\_Efficiency\_and\_Economics\_for\_EV\_Battery\_Usage

### EMN.V :

* + Euro Manganese Inc. (EMN.V) has performed well in the days following Battery Day. EMN's Chvaletice project in the Czech Republic is Europe's largest deposit of manganese, making it great candidate to supply Tesla's proposed future European operations.

### AMY.V

* + American Manganese Inc. is a critical metals company focused on recycling of lithium-ion batteries (RecycLiCo™) and the production of electrolytic manganese metal from low grade U.S. resources. The recycling process provides high extraction of cathode metals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and aluminum at high purity, with minimal processing steps. American Manganese Inc. aims to commercialize its breakthrough RecycLiCo™ patented process and become an industry leader in recycling cathode materials from lithium-ion battery manufacturing waste.
	+ American Manganese Inc. (“**AMY**” or the “**Company**”) is pleased to report initial leach test results on manganese samples collected from the U.S. National Defense Stockpile in Wenden, Arizona, under a grant from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). Using AMY's patented manganese process (US Patent No. 8,460,631), the leach test results achieved encouraging manganese extraction rates of up to 88%.
	+ As announced in the Company's January 12, 2021 press release, the 14 representative samples (550 pounds) collected from the Wenden Stockpile were blended into a master composite and crushed into various material sizes for leach testing. Leach tests were conducted on the different crush sizes to establish optimal process conditions, in addition to scale-up considerations relevant to a potential advanced material processing plant at the 322,000 metric ton Wenden Stockpile. The laboratory testing campaign's next step is to conduct leach tests using the determined optimal leach conditions on each of the 14 individual representative samples, with a focus on reducing the leach reagent consumption, before advancing to tailings characterization, manganese carbonate precipitation, and electrolytic manganese metal (EMM) testing.
	+ A letter released by Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) to the U.S. Department of Interior put the Wenden Stockpile work in its larger strategic context, stating that an advanced manganese material processing facility at Wenden could open prospects to U.S.-produced EMM, produce a reliable source of EMM for the DLA/National Defense Stockpile, end the U.S.’s current 100% manganese import-dependency, and reduce U.S. reliance on China in the advanced manganese supply chain (click here to read Congressman Gosar's letter).
	+ Under the grant awarded on October 21, 2020 by the Defense Logistics Agency, American Manganese's proposed timeline to complete the laboratory testing campaign is anticipated to take 47 weeks.