On the 5^th of May, South 32’s Hermosa project was added to the USA’s Fast-41 process, making it the first mining project to be listed on the permitting dashboard

The objective of FAST-41 is to facilitate the coordination of environmental and project review activities across Federal agencies, essentially speeding up federal environmental permitting by setting time limits on environmental reviews and prioritizing high-cost projects. FAST 41 is, therefore, intended to stop the permitting process from creating raw material supply bottlenecks as the USA looks to meet its net-zero targets. Project Blue notes that, on average, mine projects take up to 15 years to move from initial exploration to full production, with permitting often taking as much as a decade. 

South 32’s Hermosa project is targeting the production of battery-grade manganese sulphate (HP MSM) for use in lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. The Hermosa project is a polymetallic development consisting of the Zn-Pb-Ag Taylor deposit and the Clark Zn-Mn-Ag deposit in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Hermosa would be the first manganese-producing mine in the USA since 1970, giving battery manufacturers access to a local high-purity manganese source. The estimated mineral resource is 55,000kt at 9% Mn, with confirmed flowsheets to produce HP EMM or HP MSM at an on-site facility.

Production of battery-grade manganese sulphate in the USA would be significant for the US battery supply chain. As of today, China completely dominates the supply of HP MSM used in Li-ion battery PCAM materials – accounting for 98% of 2022 supply via 14/16 known HP MSM producers globally (the others are in Belgium and Japan). The development of Hermosa would, therefore, likely be of considerable interest to US OEMs. Recently, Stellantis and E25 (which is also targeting ROW production of HP MSM) announced the signing of a binding agreement for E25 to supply battery-grade HP MSM to Stellantis for use in EV battery packs.