High-purity manganese producer Euro Manganese [TSXV:EMN; ASX:EMN; OTCQX:EUMNF; Frankfurt:E06] which is developing aground breaking manganese project in the Czech Republic, has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction management contract (EPCM) to an experienced pair of hands, Australia’s Wood Group.
Wood has a wealth of experience in consulting and engineering and is already active in 60 countries. It was one of five firms bidding for the EPCM contract and was shortlisted early this year based on cost, the proposed project schedule, technical and engineering capability, EU experience, and overall execution strategy.
Euro Manganese selected Wood as the preferred contractor for its Chvaletice manganese project in April and has now concluded the contract negotiations.
The Canada- and Frankfurt-listed metals producer is the largest European sourcer of pure manganese and has produced the first 99.9% pure electrolytic manganese metal from its demonstration plant this April. Its Chvaletice project is operating at a high environmental level, using old manganese tailings as its raw material.
“We look forward to building a world-class facility to produce high-purity manganese, an essential component in lithium-ion batteries for EV vehicles. Together (with Wood Group), we are working to advance the global energy transition,” said Dr. Matthew James, Euro-Manganese President and CEO.
The company also has in place a joint venture agreement with Canadian battery materials specialist Nano-One to jointly develop battery materials. Both companies focus on being low-impact producers.
Time frame
The EPCM contract with Wood Group will be executed in two phases, with an approval stage gate between each phase as well as after the gap analysis in phase one.
The first phase should take about 12 months to complete. Before the second phase starts a final investment decision will have to be made, which will require securing outstanding permits as well as debt and equity project finance.
The first part, the front-end engineering design phase, will include an initial two-month gap analysis and in-depth review of the Definitive Feasibility Study deliverables, including the test work and flowsheet development conducted by Euro Manganese over the last seven years.
Once the gap analysis is complete the company will focus on other key deliverables over the following 10 months including completing value engineering; identifying long-lead time equipment; vendor engagement, total installed capital cost estimate; project implementation strategy; a baseline schedule for the EPCM phase; and preparation of construction permit documentation.
The second phase will entail engineering, procurement and construction management. Wood will provide overall project and construction management services throughout this phase of the project.
Permitting timeline
Before the project can fully go ahead the company still needs to obtain the Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) approval, the Land Planning Permit and the Construction Permit.
The first of these three permits is almost in place after it has been reviewed by 14 relevant local authorities. Most of those authorities approved the relevant studies, signalling a positive perception of the project by regulators, except for one which questioned noise issues. The company is now addressing those and expects to submit the revised ESIA in August. It also estimates that this process won’t delay plans for final direct investment.
The next step will be the Land Planning Permit. Euro Manganese said that the documentation for this application is mostly complete and is awaiting the approved ESIA, expected before year end. It takes typically three months for this type of permit to be approved and it is likely to be in place by the middle of Q2 2024.
The last required documentation is the Construction Permit, expected to be submitted at the end of the second quarter of 2024. The permit approval timeline here is also three months, resulting in an anticipated approval by Q3 2024.
