Euro Manganese Inc. (EMN.V) is focused in advancing the development of the Chvaletice Manganese Project, in which it holds a 100% interest. The Project entails re-processing a significant manganese deposit hosted in mine tailings from a decommissioned mine, strategically located in the Czech Republic. EMN.V’s goal is to become a leading, competitive and environmentally superior primary producer of ultra-high-purity Manganese Products in the heart of Europe, serving both the lithium-ion battery industry,and other high-technology applications.
Thesis
Most (90%) of the Manganese supply comes from China. As electric vehicle adoption occur, the demand for Manganese is set to increase by many fold. In fact, both VW and Tesla have recently made announcement that corroborate it.
Note that Manganese has various application beyond EV, especially with steel and aluminium alloys.
According to EMN.V, its Chvaletice Manganese Project is the only sizable manganese resource in the European Union; potentially providing up to 50% of projected 2025 European demand for high-purity manganese.
Its important to highlight, the project has strong potential local environmental and social benefits. In essence, tailings from a decommissioned mine are recycled to produce battery-grade manganese which may lead to a longstanding source of water pollution to be eliminated. This is not trivial given the above quantities outlined by the NI 43-101.
News releases
Oct. 21 - Announces Private Placement: Issuance of 1,933,246 common shares and 58,066,754 CHESS Depositary Interests ("CDIs", with each CDI representing one Share), at a price of C$0.19 per Share or A$0.20 per CDI, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$11.4 million (A$12.0 million).
Net proceeds of the Offering will be used to further progress its Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic, including the purchase, installation and operation of the Demonstration Plant, advancing the Project’s permitting and feasibility study, and for general corporate purposes.
Tranche One: 716,384 Shares and 31,183,616 CDIs for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$6,061,000, expected to close on or about October 28, 2020; Tranche Two: 1,216,862 Shares and 26,883,138 CDIs for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$5,339,000, which will be subject to shareholder approval.
Insiders of the Company are expected to subscribe for an aggregate of 227,913 Shares under the Offering.
Oct. 28 - Announces Closing of First Tranche of Private Placement: The first tranche of 716,384 common shares and 31,183,616 CDI were issued for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$6,061,000.
a) Demonstration Plant order placed. Procurement and fabrication to commence immediately. Sets stage for initiation of Chvaletice high-purity manganese products supply chain qualification process with prospective customers.
b) All land for Chvaletice commercial plant now secured, with three additional agreements for land purchase and leases, including a second rail line connection.
c) Demonstration Plant permitted as proposed. Requires no separate Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or permitting, other than a building permit.
d) Dry stacking tailings operation approved without the introduction of additional fees.
Dec. 10 - Announces Results of Special Meeting.
Dec. 16 - Announces Closing of Second Tranche of Private Placement: The second tranche of 1,216,862 common shares and 26,883,138 CDI respectively, for aggregate gross proceeds of C$5,339,000 (A$ 5,620,000).
Jan. 7 - Closes Private Placement: A non-brokered private placement of 444,445 common shares at CAD $0.45 per Share. The subscription proceeds of CAD $200,000 will be used for general working capital purposes.
Jan. 14 - Chvaletice Manganese Project Moves to Next Stage of Permitting Process:
a) The Czech Republic’s Ministry of the Environment has completed its initial screening procedure for the Chvaletice Manganese Project’s preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
b) EMN.V can now move forward to the next stages of the permitting process. The Final Environmental Impact Assessment, which is targeted for completion in December 2021.
c) A definitive feasibility study for the project is underway and is also targeted for completion by the end of the year.
d) Procurement and fabrication of the Project’s Demonstration Plant is on schedule (Summer 2021).
Feb. 22 - EIT InnoEnergy to support Chvaletice Manganese Project: Euro Manganese and its wholly owned Czech Republic subsidiary, Mangan Chvaletice, have secured the support of EIT InnoEnergy, a Knowledge and Innovation Community supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
EIT InnoEnergy will provide an initial funding of €250,000 in the Company that will go towards ongoing work on a detailed feasibility study and demonstration plant, both targeted for completion by the end of 2021.
EIT InnoEnergy has agreed to help Euro Manganese secure financing of up to €362 million for the commercial development of the Chvaletice Manganese Project. Potential funding sources include Europe-wide and regional grant programs as well as European project finance and economic development banks.
EIT InnoEnergy will further assist Euro Manganese in securing offtake agreements with consumers of high-purity manganese products, including European electric vehicle, battery and cathode manufacturers.
Exercise of Warrants
EMN.V also reported that on February 4, 2021, warrants to purchase an aggregate of 2,856,750 Shares of the Company were exercised at a price of CAD$0.30 per Share, resulting in proceeds to the Company of CAD$857,025.
Feb. 24 - Announces Results of Annual General and Special Meeting:
Mar. 1 - To apply for OTCQX listing:
Mar. 21 - Announces Private Placement to Accelerate High-purity Manganese Development: 50,000,000 CDI at A$0.60 per CDI, for aggregate gross proceeds of AUD$30.0 million (CAD$29.0 million).
Proceeds of the Offering will be used to further advance Chvaletice Manganese Project, allowing completion of all site and technical work required for a final investment decision expected in 2022.
Specifically, proceeds will be used for completing the installation and commissioning of the Company’s high-purity manganese Demonstration Plant. The initial year of operating costs of the Demonstration Plant, completing the Project’s permitting and feasibility study, for scheduled land acquisition payments and for general corporate purposes.
a) closed the first tranche of its recent private placement for gross proceeds of AUD$25 million (approx. CAD$24.2 million). The second tranche to close in early May 2021.
b) Received an initial investment from EIT InnoEnergy of €62,500 (approx. CAD$92,850), the first of three installments with an aggregate value of €250,000.
c) The Company’s eligibility timeline for approx. CAD$27 million in investment incentives in the form of tax credits that were granted by the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has been extended to 2025.
d) The Company has granted stock options to purchase 2,350,000 shares at CAD$0.61 per share.
May 5 - Announces Results of Special Meeting.
May 10 - Announces Closing of Second Tranche of Private Placement: The second tranche of 8,333,334 CDI for aggregate gross proceeds AUD$5 million (approximately CAD$4.8 million).
May 23 - Provides update on Chvaletice Manganese Project:
1) The Project’s Final Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is on track for completion for Q1 2022.
2) Procurement of 97% of the Chvaletice Manganese Project’s Demonstration Plant equipment has been completed. Operation of the Demonstration Plant is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2022.
3) Work on the Project’s definitive feasibility study is on track for completion in the first quarter of 2022.
4) Euro Manganese continues its discussions with potential offtakers,
Summary
Financing
Since October 2021, three rounds of financing were completed. The first for $11.4M at $0.19 cents (CDI $0.20 cents). A second for $0.2M at $0.45 cents and the third round for $29M at $0.60 cents.
The proceeds of the financing were cited for: the purchase, installation and operation of the Demonstration Plant, advancing the Project’s permitting and feasibility study, and for general corporate purposes.
EMN.V also reported $0.8M from the exercise of warrants (2.85M) at $0.30 cents.
Demonstration Plant (DP)
After successful past metallurgical test work and pilot plant testing with results in line (and at times above) the requirements of high purity manganese specifications, EMN.V is now moving to the next phase; a DP.
The DP is a 7-times scale up of the successful pilot plant that the Company operated in 2018. It is designed as a locked-cycle, semi-batch, manually operated system of interconnected modules that can be utilized as a circuit or as stand-alone components. The DP is intended to replicate the entire process flowsheet proposed in the Project’s 2019 Preliminary Economic Assessment. It will produce around 32 kg/day of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal ("HPEMM"), that can be converted into approximately 100 kg/day of dry crystalline high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate ("HPMSM").
November 2020. EMN.V reported that the order for the Demonstration Plant (DP) was initiated. EMN.V disclosed that a) all land for the commercial plant was secured. b) all environmental permit for construction were in place.
January 2021, EMN.V announced that it had completed the initial screening procedure for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). An important step which enables it to move to the next stage of the process which is the Final Environmental Assessment. EMN.V also disclosed that the Definitive Feasibility Study was underway.
Both the Final Environmental Assessment and Definitive Feasibility Study were targeted for completion in Dec. 2021.
March 2021, EMN.V disclosed that a CAD$27 million in investment incentives in the form of tax credits that were granted by the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has been extended to 2025.
May 2021, EMN.V reported that 97% of the procurement of the Chvaletice Manganese Project’s Demonstration Plant equipment has been completed. However, the operation of the Demonstration Plant, the Final Environmental + Social Impact Assessment, and the Definitive Feasibility Study were pushed up to Q1 2022.
EIT InnoEnergy
February 2021, EMN.V disclosed that EIT InnoEnergy would provide an initial funding of €250,000 towards ongoing work for the detailed feasibility study and demonstration plant.
EIT InnoEnergy has also agreed to help Euro Manganese secure financing of up to €362 million for the commercial development of the Chvaletice Manganese Project. Potential funding sources include Europe-wide and regional grant programs, as well as, European project finance and economic development banks.
March 2021, EMN.V reported that it received the initial investment from EIT InnoEnergy of €62,500 (CAD$92,850), the first of three installments with an aggregate value of €250,000.
Options
Stock options to purchase 2,350,000 shares at CAD$0.61 per share were granted in March 2021.
In Short
EMN.V is among a small number of publicly listed Manganese companies. Since May 2016. Euro Manganese has worked to bring the Chvaletice Manganese Project in operations. Having completed drilling, metallurgical analysis, a resource estimate (43-101), pilot testing and Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
EMN.V raised more than $40M in the last eight month towards a completion of a demonstration plant, a definitive feasibility study, and a final environmental analysis (all expected in Q1 2022). EMN.V also cited:
Approximately 55% of the DP’s planned first year production of HPEMM and HPMSM has been allocated to five prospective customers for testing, in the context of their supply chain qualification process.
Though EMN.V is still a venture company which has many milestones to complete in the quest of being a profitable operations, the nature of the project is appealing on multiple fronts: economic, social and environmental.
A look at the investor presentation suggest that EMN.V might just be a project that's truly sustainable.
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