Toronto junior Manganese X Energy Corp says ore sorting testwork in South Africa has shown “highly positive” results on material from its Battery Hill manganese deposit in New Brunswick, opening a path to lower project development capital and operating costs.
Manganese X said the phase-two ore sorting independently managed by ABH Engineering demonstrated an 80% increase in mill feed grade in a plus-400kg sample sent from Battery Hill. “An 80% increase in mill feed grade means that after ore sorting the material sent to the mill contains 80% more manganese per tonne than the original mined material,” it said.
The sample was split into two size fractions and tested using full-scale production equipment. Through ore sorting, waste rock was effectively removed, pre-concentrating the rock before further processing, according to Manganese X, which wants to become the “first public actively traded manganese mining company in Canada and US” to commercialise EV-compliant high-purity manganese supply.
“We are highly encouraged by the results of this large-scale pilot program, which confirm the economic potential of the ore sorting technology we are employing,” Manganese X CEO Martin Kepman said.
“These findings strongly support the viability of integrating this process into our operations. By increasing mill feed grade ore sorting is projected to positively impact capex, opex and production cost per tonne.
“With higher-grade feed a smaller facility can produce more metal while the ability to create low-grade stockpiles enables very high upgrade ratios and maximises resource utilisation.
“Potential benefits also include improved project NPV and IRR, reduced energy and water consumption, expanded resources through cut-off grade reduction and decreased tailings storage requirements – along with the associated reduction in environmental impact.”
ABH Engineering vice president of mineral processing Brent Hilscher said the Manganese X results were an “example of what we call a clean sort or sharp separation”.
“The high-grade rock can be easily concentrated with very high recovery rates,” he said.
“The impact of higher mill feed grade on project economics can be profound.”
