Western Australia-focused manganese developer Firebird Metals (ASX:FRB) has started testwork and produced its first lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).
The company said in a Tuesday (March 4) press release that it is the first Australian company to achieve this milestone, adding that it is set to become a low-cost manganese-based cathode material business.
“Manganese sulphate is a critical element within LMFP and our manganese processing knowledge and IP enables Firebird to drive significant value by co-precipitation,” said Firebird Managing Director Peter Allen.
The company announced a strategic collaboration with Central South University in Changsha, the capital city of China’s Hunan province, this past October. It is conducting the testwork under this agreement.
“We expect our process to translate into substantial cost advantages in sulphate production by bypassing the manganese sulphate crystallisation process, which is the largest component of our operating cost,” said Allen.
A few non-Chinese companies are able to produce LMFP, but most supply comes from China given its domestic manufacturers and technological advancements. In fact, the world’s first LMFP project was commissioned in Quijing, Yunnan in 2022. It is run by Shenzhen Dynanonic (SZSE:300769) and has a capacity of 110,000 tonnes per year.
In January, China announced plans to limit exports of LFP and LMFP processing technologies. According to BEST Magazine, analysts said the move was partly a response to planned US tariffs on imports from China.
In October of last year, UK-based material powers company Integral Power said it had made a breakthrough in LMFP cathode active materials for battery cells. The company said its work could increase EV range by up to 20 percent.
Moving forward, Firebird said it is “well-positioned to deliver” on its LMFP production strategy through its sector-leading manganese team and its proposed tier-one manganese sulphate plant.
So far five batches of LMFP cathode material have been tested, with plans to test 100 batches. Each batch will be turned into LMFP button batteries, with testwork results being used to complete a scoping study.
Shares of the company rose 7.6 percent to AU$0.099 after Tuesday’s announcement.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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