Element 25 has received final statutory approval from the Western Australia (WA) Department of Water and Environmental Regulation for the expansion of its Butcherbird Manganese Mine.
The expansion is expected to increase manganese concentrate production from the project to 1.1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
Located in WA, the Butcherbird Project hosts the country’s largest onshore manganese resource, consisting of significant near-surface manganese oxide ore across seven deposits.
In a press statement, Element 25 said: “This is an important milestone and now sees the Butcherbird Expansion Project (BBX) fully approved under the Western Australian mining regulatory framework.”
The approval follows the clearance in January 2025 of the mining proposal and mine closure plan by the WA Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.
An updated feasibility study released in January 2025 estimated the capital cost of the expansion to be A$64.8m ($40.7m), projecting a pre-tax net present value of A$561m and a pre-tax internal rate of return of 96%.
The project is expected to generate an average annual cash flow of A$70.5m over a mine life exceeding 18 years.
Element 25 has now received all necessary regulatory approvals and access agreements to commence construction of the expanded Butcherbird processing facility, which will supply manganese oxide concentrate to the steel industry.
Additionally, the concentrate will provide feedstock for Element 25’s proposed battery-grade high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) processing facility in Louisiana, US.
The HPMSM project, developed in partnership with General Motors and Stellantis, has received $166m in grant funding from the US Department of Energy.
