Mr. Larry Reaugh reports

AMERICAN MANGANESE RECEIVES SOUTH AFRICA PATENT FOR MANGANESE EXTRACTION PROCESS

American Manganese Inc. has received patent No. 2013/01364 from the Republic of South Africa for the company's manganese recovery process. This patent is a significant milestone for the company as the invention has secured another key asset that can be exclusively capitalized. The invention is a technical breakthrough as it enables the recovery of manganese from a low-grade resource with significantly less energy and environmental impact than conventional processing methods. The United States Bureau of Mines developed the framework for the process from the 1940s to 1980 but was never able to make it economically viable. Kemetco Research Inc. successfully completed the process to demonstrate it can compete with other electrolytic manganese metal, electrolytic manganese dioxide and chemical manganese dioxide producers in the lower-cost percentile. Along with U.S. patent No. 8,460,621 B2 and the Chinese patent application (pending), the patents describe key details of how manganese can be recovered from a low-grade resource with the following key advantages:

• Low energy requirement;
• Low water use;
• Robust process with a unique assembly of commercially available equipment.

"The hydrometallurgical process developed by the company is capable of producing high-purity electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) and chemical manganese dioxide (CMD) critical for improving performance and safety of high-tech lithium ion batteries. The invention bypasses steps known to introduce metallic impurities when producing these materials using conventional mining processes," said Norm Chow, president of Kemetco Research. He added: "Conventional mining processes used to produce manganese dioxide for lithium-ion batteries are known to contaminate cathode materials with metallic impurities. These impurities can cause internal short-circuits after a number of charge/discharge cycles, which will bypass any protection circuits, and unfortunately can lead to fires or explosions in electric vehicles, laptops, cellphones etc." High-purity manganese dioxide is combined with lithium carbonate to form the cathode material used in the spinel type of high-tech lithium-ion rechargeable batteries.

Continuing activity

Management is investigating potential domestic and international opportunities in manganese that have the potential to enhance the Artillery Peak project. Management is investigating potential domestic opportunities in silicon and phosphorus that have the potential to take advantage of emerging technologies for the rechargeable battery industry. The Artillery Peak manganese project has the potential to move ahead and develop the resources to become a potential supplier of high-purity EMD and/or CMD for the rechargeable battery industry.

About manganese

There is no substitute for manganese in steelmaking (total manganese market greater than 33 billion pounds per year; fourth largest traded metal). Manganese is a critical metal at risk for supply disruptions in the United States as there is no domestic production.

Electrolytic manganese dioxide and chemical manganese dioxide for the rechargeable battery industry are expected to be the fastest-growing segments of the manganese market. Tesla's announcement of the $5-billion (U.S.) lithium-ion-battery gigafactory has put the focus on potential suppliers of raw materials for the electric vehicle battery market.

We seek Safe Harbor.