Element 25 recently signed a binding term sheet with Veolia North America to secure a site for its planned high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate refinery in Louisiana. Part of the electric vehicle supply chain, Element 25 expects the operation to create 220 direct jobs.
The site, a 35-acre parcel in Burnside, Ascension Parish, is next to a Veolia-operated sulphuric acid production facility. The agreement includes terms for E25 to acquire the land and to establish essential utility and service agreements, including a long-term sulphuric acid supply from Veolia.
“E25 aims to be a leading source of high quality, vertically integrated, traceable and ESG and IRA-compliant battery material to the global electric vehicle industry," Managing Director Justin Brown said. 'Construction of our HPMSM facility in the U.S. – the first of its kind there – requires a project site with the necessary services and utilities and access to sulphuric acid as a key reagent, to allow the Project to proceed. The Veolia site meets these requirements, and we are pleased to have signed this TS with Veolia as an important step forward in Project execution.”
General Motors will serve as a partner in the HPMSM project. GM has committed $85M in senior secured debt funding to the Burnside project. GM’s investment is in parallel to the investment by their second offtake and funding partner Stellantis N.V.