T.C. Eisele
Michigan Technological University - Houghton, MI, Michigan, United States
Keywords: supply chain, manganese, nickel, raw materials, domestic supply
Manganese is a vital alloying element for a wide range of defense-relevant alloys, and is also indispensable as a component of battery cathodes. However, Manganese has not been produced domestically since 1973, because deposits in the US are either too small in extent or too low-grade to be mined economically with conventional technology. This puts us at a severe supply-chain risk for a metal that cannot be satisfactorily replaced by substitutes. To address this, our group has been developing a microbial leaching process that has a low enough capital cost to be applied to small deposits, and low enough operating cost that it can competitively process ores too low-grade to be mined by other means. This process generates pure manganese oxide that can be used for metal alloys, battery cathodes, and many other applications. The process has been tested at scales up to several hundred kilograms, and we are seeking support for demonstration-scale pilot testing.