Elcora Advanced Materials has secured a manganese exploitation licence for its ‘Atlas Fox Deposit’ in Morocco, through its wholly owned unit Ermazon SARL.
Issued by the Moroccan Government, the licence allows the company to mine, extract, process and sell manganese from the mining concession that covers 16km².
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Elcora plans to initially carry out open-pit mining at the Atlas Fox Deposit, which was mined until the mid-1950s.
The deposit is expected to have a potential monthly production capacity of 2,500t.
Elcora CEO Troy Grant said: “The use of manganese not only provides a solution for renewable energy storage, but it also has the potential to create new jobs and stimulate local economic growth.
“The extraction and processing of manganese require specialised skills and technology, and the development of manganese-based batteries has the potential to create new industries driving Elcora’s growth.”
The EU, US and Canada have recently passed policies and laws to support secure battery raw material supply chains and accelerate into clean energy.
Elcora expects these policies and laws’ objectives to directly benefit the manganese market.
Said to be a necessary metal in the conversion of iron into steel, manganese is also integral to the energy and performance of the batteries used for electric vehicles.
Last September, Elcora Advanced Materials and Gold Lion Resources agreed to start exploitation on a manganese mining research licence in Morocco.
