Butcherbird Expansion Project Advances through Naif Funding Process
Element 25 Limited (E25 or Company) (ASX: E25; OTCQX: ELMTF) is pleased to advise the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) has completed a strategic assessment of the Butcherbird Stage 2 Expansion Project (Butcherbird or Project). E25 aims to increase Butcherbird’s annual production to 1.1 million tonnes per annum of manganese oxide concentrate in line with the Feasibility Study (FS) announced in January 20241.
The Expansion Project is now proceeding to the detailed due diligence phase of the NAIF assessment process.
NAIF is a Commonwealth Government financier providing concessional loans for the development of infrastructure projects in northern Australia and the Australian Indian Ocean Territories to deliver economic and social growth2.
Completion of a strategic assessment by NAIF does not represent a formal decision to offer or commit finance. NAIF has not yet made any decision to offer finance or made any commitment to provide any financial support to the Project, and there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached between the parties.
Element 25 Managing Director Justin Brown said: “Our Butcherbird Project hosts a world-class manganese deposit with more than 260Mt in resources, which will has the ability to underpin a long life producing asset3. The results of our Feasibility Study for the Expansion Project1 show the potential for this asset to deliver over 1 million tonnes of manganese concentrate per year to market, generating strong returns for shareholders and providing feedstock for the Company’s planned HPMSM facility in Louisiana. Having NAIF involved in the project is a positive step towards financing its expansion.”
BUTCHERBIRD EXPANSION PROJECT
E25 plans to expand its Butcherbird operations to 1.1Mpta manganese concentrate production using expanded open-cut mining methods, a modified primary comminution circuit and a dense media separation (DMS) back-end solution to optimise grade and recoveries. Expansion would establish Butcherbird as a low-cost Mn operator (estimated US$2.76/dmtu C1 FOB cost1) able to produce at a cost lower than the low manganese sale price points seen within the Mn market. Mineral Resources used to support the Project’s 7.2-year mine life from 2024 to 2031 represents 36.0% of the total mineral resource inventory within the granted mining lease M52/1074.
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