Euro Manganese Inc (ASX:EMN, TSX-V:EMN, OTCQX:EUMNF) has shared the findings of a life cycle assessment (LCA) for its flagship Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic.
The cradle-to-gate study holistically assesses the environmental impacts of producing the project’s high-purity manganese products from the asset’s manganese-rich historical mine tailings.
The LCA measures various impact categories that include the project’s carbon footprint, water footprint and land footprint.
Positively, the LCA’s results validate the Chvaletice project’s environmental value proposition and identify potential opportunities for further impact reduction.
In particular, multiple environmental benefits are identified from the remediation of the historic tailings area, namely in terms of improvement of soil quality and freshwater quality.
EMN is currently in talks with prospective customers across the electric vehicle battery and automotive space, each of whom is testing and qualifying both the chemistry and environmental credentials of the company’s high-purity manganese products.
Responsible manganese production
Commenting on the findings, Euro Manganese president and CEO Dr Matthew James said the study’s results demonstrate the company’s commitment to sustainable production practices.
“I am pleased the results of this life cycle assessment confirm the environmental credentials of the Chvaletice Manganese Project, namely its low carbon footprint and the net positive benefits of remediating the historical tailings area, where the quality of soil and freshwater actually improve over the lifetime of the project,” Dr James explained.
“These LCA results are a crucial part of customer qualification, as transparency into the origin and environmental footprint of battery metal production is increasingly important as automotive manufacturers use strategic procurement to meet their targets of lower carbon emissions across their supply chains.”
Spotlight on renewable energy
One of the assessment’s key findings was that using 100% renewable electricity to power the processing plant would materially lower the Chvaletice project’s carbon footprint, which is measured in the LCA as its global warming potential (GWP).
Already, EMN is working to secure renewable power offtake contracts with a potential target mix of 50% wind and 50% solar to meet the plant’s energy requirements.
Dr James continued: “Euro Manganese’s plans to purchase 100% renewable electricity reduces the GWP to 2.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of high-purity manganese sulphate.
“To put this in context, the Nickel Institute reports a GWP of 5.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of nickel sulphate.
“I am confident the use of renewable energy will show our results are favourable against similar operations producing high-purity manganese products, to be confirmed in the benchmarking study currently underway.
“Euro Manganese has the only known supply of manganese ore in the European Union, making our high-purity manganese products fully traceable from mine to market, and it is our duty to develop that resource in the most environmentally responsible manner.”
What else does the study say?
EMN’s LCA also confirms there are multiple environmental benefits to come from remediating the historical tailings area at Chvaletice, particularly when it comes to soil and freshwater quality.
Indeed, both are forecast to improve over the project’s lifetime as remediation avoids the current leaching of metals and reduces the tailings’ impact on soil and water streams.
In addition, there’s scope to further reduce Chvaletice’s carbon footprint by sourcing reagents from manufacturers with a lower environmental impact than those assumed in the study.
As a result, Euro Manganese is committed to identifying and selecting suppliers with commitments to decarbonisation.
As part of the study, an LCA expert completed a critical project review, which will provide EMN with an independently verified assessment it can pass on to financiers and customers.
UK-based sustainability and LCA consultancy Minviro is also undertaking a benchmarking exercise, where Chvaletice’s GWP will be compared against similar projects and operations producing high-purity manganese products.
Euro Manganese plans to release the findings once this analysis is complete.