Element 25 Limited has signed a deal with General Motors Co (GM) for the supply of up to 32,500 metric tonnes of manganese sulfate per year, supporting GM’s annual production of over 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) in North America.
Under the terms of the agreement, GM would lend E25 US$85 million to loan help fund the development of a new plant in Louisiana, USA, to produce battery-grade manganese sulfate – a critical component in lithium-ion battery cathodes – beginning in 2025. E25 will produce manganese sulfate at the plant by processing manganese concentrate from its mining operations in Western Australia. It is intended to be the first of its sort in the United States.
“E25 aims to be a leading source of high quality, vertically integrated, traceable and ESG-compliant battery material to the global electric vehicle industry and GM’s support does more than accelerate our strategy for HPMSM production in the United States. Together, we are creating a resilient and sustainable North American supply chain that will help introduce millions of customers to the performance and environmental benefits of EVs,” E25 Managing Director Justin Brown said.
GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, Doug Parks, said: “GM is scaling EV production in North America well past 1 million units annually and our direct investments in battery raw materials, processing and components for EVs are providing certainty of supply, favorable commercial terms and thousands of new jobs, especially in the U.S., Canada and with free trade agreement countries such as Australia. The facility E25 will build in Louisiana is significant because it’s expected be the first plant in the United States to produce battery-grade manganese sulfate, a key component of cathode active material which helps improve EV battery cell cost.”
E25 plans to invest around US$290 million in constructing the 230,000-square-foot complex. Site preparation is expected to begin in the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, with the facility set to operate in 2025. The plant is expected to generate around 200 permanent jobs once it’s fully operational.
GM continues to expand its domestic supply base for EV manufacture. In addition to manganese sulfate, GM has announced direct investments in lithium, nickel, other commodities, and cathode active material (CAM). GM and its joint venture partners are installing 160GWh of battery cell manufacturing capacity in the United States, and its suppliers are onshoring production of permanent magnets and other EV components to North America.
