Manganese futurist Martin Kepman explains how manganese will replace cobalt in the lithium ion battery and electrical vehicle (EV) and stored energy sectors.
In addition to being an essential ingredient in the process of manufacturing steel, the demand for refined and purified manganese in the electric vehicle (EV) industry and the stored energy sector is on the rise. As new technologies are developed to reduce industry reliance on unethical, unsustainable, and expensive cobalt, manganese looks to be a suitable alternative.
Rene Perras’ interview with manganese expert Martin Kepman, CEO of New Brunswick-based Manganese X Energy Corp, a junior mining company. You can read more about the interview on Entrepreneur.
Manganese X’s mission is to advance its 100% owned Battery Hill project into production striving toward commercialization of a manganese deposit, with the intent of supplying value-added materials to the lithium-ion battery and other alternative energy industries.
The Battery Hill site boasts 1228 hectares of manganese-rich land, and is considered one of the largest carbonate manganese properties in North America strategically positioned for future development. Recent site assessments have uncovered the viability of an open mining project, with a long potential life cycle of 20 to 25 years of extracting and purifying manganese, utilizing new carbon-friendly and efficient methodologies, while processing manganese at a lower and more competitive cost.
“In a recent Biden administration executive order titled “America’s Supply Chains” dated February 24th, 2021, the US made clear that it understands the importance of securing all domestic or North American supply chains for all materials of strategic importance-clearly, Manganese is one such.”
“Current lithium-ion batteries are heavily dependent on toxic cobalt, which is expensive and usually mined unethically, primarily in the Congo. In fact, the environmental impact of cobalt mining may outweigh the reduced carbon footprint of driving an electric vehicle,” says Mr. Kepman, “The race to find a viable, large-scale alternative to cobalt is crucial to the electric vehicle and other industries. The current front-runner, manganese, is showing serious potential by increasing the proportions of manganese by reducing and eliminating cobalt.”
In the interview, manganese expert Martin Kepman explains:
- The EV industry’s current reliance on cobalt
- Why the industry is seeking a replacement for cobalt in lithium ion batteries
- How lithium ion batteries work
- Why current lithium ion battery technology needs cobalt
- Why manganese is a better and more sustainable option than cobalt
About Manganese Energy Corp.
Manganese X Energy Corp. intends to provide a secure ethically sourced manganese supply by exploring and developing its manganese-rich deposit near Woodstock New Brunswick, the Battery Hill Project. New Brunswick is recognized, on the world stage, as one of the best mining jurisdictions in Canada, a country known to be mining-friendly.
Manganese X Energy Corp. (TSXV: MN) (FSE: 9SC2) (OTC:QB:MNXXF) (FRANKFURT:9SC2) with its head office in Montreal QC, owns 100% of the Battery Hill property project (1,228 hectares) located in New Brunswick Canada. Battery Hill is strategically situated 12 kilometers from the US (Maine) border, near existing infrastructures (power, railways, and roads). It encompasses all or part of five manganese-iron zones, including Iron Ore Hill, Moody Hill, Sharpe Farm, Maple Hill, and Wakefield. According to Brian Way’s (2012) master’s thesis on the Woodstock manganese occurrences, which includes Battery Hill, the area “hosts a series of banded iron formations that collectively constitute one of the largest manganese resources in North America, approximately 194,000,000 tons.”
About Rene Perras
Rene Perras born in Canada, now a Jupiter Florida resident president of Cepac and involved in the day-to-day activities of managing his consulting firm, since June of 1987, has always been a disruptive entrepreneur in the marketplace. He met and married his wife in Montreal, a first-generation American-born Indian whose family emigrated from Hyderabad over fifty years ago to the US. He’s always been interested in finding inventive ways to streamline businesses and law firm operations, making them more effective and efficient.