Element 25 Limited (E25) has received final regulatory approval from the WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) for its Butcherbird Expansion Project. This pivotal milestone fully approves the project under the Western Australian mining regulatory framework, enabling the construction of a 1.1Mtpa manganese concentrate production operation. The Butcherbird manganese will serve as the primary feedstock for E25’s planned battery-grade, high-purity manganese sulphide monohydrate (HPMSM) processing facility in Louisiana, USA. Additionally, E25 plans to sell Butcherbird manganese concentrate to customers in the manganese alloy and steel industries.
The company’s updated Feasibility Study released in January 2025 estimated a capital cost of A$64.8 million, projecting a pre-tax Net Present Value (NPV) of $561 million and a 96% pre-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR). This expansion is expected to generate an average of $70.5 million in annual cash flow over a mine life exceeding 18 years. The Works Approval complements prior approvals, including the Mining Proposal and Mine Closure Plan approval from the WA Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) in January 2025. With all required approvals and access agreements in place from Butcherbird’s Stage 1 pilot operations, E25 is poised to finalize funding for the Butcherbird Expansion Project.
Element 25’s Butcherbird Manganese Project, situated in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, is central to the company’s ambitions in both traditional and new energy markets. The company intends to establish a large-scale processing facility at Butcherbird, targeting customers in the steel industry, as well as serving as feedstock for its HPMSM project in Louisiana, in partnership with General Motors and Stellantis. The HPMSM Project has been awarded US$166 million in grant funding from the US Department of Energy (DoE).
E25 aims to become an industry-leading, low-carbon battery materials manufacturer and is commercializing innovative technology to produce battery-grade HPMSM for Electric Vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing.
