Australia's Element 25 to supply GM with manganese sulphate

QPM Energy

26/06/2023 24:59

June 26 (Reuters) - Element 25 Ltd  E25.AX  said on
Monday it will supply manganese sulphate to General Motors Co
 GM.N  from a new facility in Louisiana, as the automaker looks
to secure supply of battery minerals for its North American
electric vehicle production.
    Under the agreement, GM will buy up to 32,500 tonnes of
manganese sulfate per annum from Element 25 over a seven-year
period from a new facility that will be built in Louisiana.
    The company did not disclose the value of the deal. 
    GM will provide Element 25 with a $85 million loan to
partially fund the construction of the facility for production
of battery-grade manganese sulphate, the ASX-listed miner said.
    Element 25 expects to invest about $290 million in total to
build the facility, and it is scheduled to open in 2025. 
    GM currently expects to build 400,000 EVs in North America
from 2022 through mid-2024 and increase capacity to 1 million
units annually in North America in 2025.
    The agreement with Element 25 is GM's second major deal for
battery metals in Australia. In October last year, the company
said it will take an equity stake in Queensland Pacific Metals
 QPM.AX  to secure a new source of nickel and cobalt for battery
cells.

 (Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru and Melanie Burton
in Melbourne; Editing by Kim Coghill)
 ((Harish.Sridharan@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/damnit_saladin;))