Scotland’s Wood has beat a handful of its top-ranked peers to land the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract for the proposed US$760 million Chvaletice manganese project in the Czech Republic.
Euro Manganese said Wood, through its Australian arm, bettered four other “quality bids” and ultimately prevailed on “cost of service as well as their proposed project schedule, technical and engineering capability, EU experience, team skillset, and overall execution strategy”.
“The contract is cost reimbursable and is structured in two phases, with an approval stage gate between each phase as well as after the gap analysis in phase one,” Euro Manganese said.
“Completion of Phase 1 [front end engineering design] is anticipated to take approximately 12 months, with a final investment decision to be made prior to commencement of phase two. Receipt of FID from the board requires securing outstanding permits and project finance.”
Euro Manganese said key outstanding permits for Chvaletice, including its construction permit, could be in hand by the end of Q3 next year.
“Awarding the EPCM contract to Wood is another key milestone for the company,” CEO Matthew James said.
“I am very pleased to be partnering with such a high calibre, tier-one engineering firm.
“We look forward to building a world-class facility to produce high-purity manganese, an essential component in lithium-ion batteries for EV vehicles.
“We fully respect the robustness of the ESIA process and are committed to minimising project impacts to the surrounding communities.”
