Electric Metals (USA) Limited provided a review and progress report on the manganese metallurgical test work with Kemetco Research Inc., of Richmond, BC, Canada, from samples obtained from the Company's Emily manganese deposit, located in central Minnesota. As reported in the 2022 NI 43-101, Kemetco was commissioned in 2013 to undertake parametric leach tests on Emily manganese ore to provide an initial determination of leaching conditions and the ultimate manganese recovery potential. Using a leaching protocol that utilizes SO2 as a reducing agent, Kemetco demonstrated that more than 80% of the manganese could be recovered from the feed without requiring pre-concentration.

Kemetco also performed a larger batch leach and used the purified leach solution in laboratory-scale electrowinning to produce of chemical grade manganese dioxide (MnO2), electrolytic manganese metal (EMM) and chemical grade manganese carbonate (MnCO 3). In 2023, Electric Metals recommissioned Kemetco to continue working on the metallurgy and commercial processing. The 2023-4 metallurgical test work at Kemetco utilized two manganese composites weighing approximately 228 kilograms taken from 40 samples: Higher grade whole rock composite sample (37.0% Mn, 19.03% Fe, and 4.61% SiO2), and Lower grade whole rock composite sample (15.57% Mn, 20.61% Fe, and 38.45% SiO2).

The leach optimization tests are leveraging off of the earlier studies and have been conducted to determine appropriate conditions and likely leach yields. The acid leach tests indicate that high manganese extractions recovered more than 90% manganese using a reductant. The metallurgical test work is ongoing with expectations of developing a viable process flowsheet for the project in the coming months.

Future work will focus on the optimization of the proposed approaches. This work has been conducted to determine what products can be economically produced from Emily ore, including High Purity Manganese Sulphate Monohydrate (HPMSM) which is essential and a major component to electric vehicle (EV) batteries, rechargeable batteries, and other emerging energy storage applications.