Potential to generate substantial local economic benefits from the sustainable development of a new critical minerals project Clark’s proposed development is aligned with our purpose to make a difference by developing natural resources, improving people’s lives now and for generations to come. It has the potential to strengthen the domestic supply of critical minerals and create many new jobs in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, where nearly 25 percent of its residents live below the poverty line.
We are working proactively with Native American tribes that have cultural ties to the project area to preserve cultural heritage and deliver long-term opportunities. Development of the Clark deposit has been designed to minimise its environmental impact, featuring a small footprint underground mine with efficient water use and dry-stack tailings. It will be designed applying lowcarbon principles, with future study phases to evaluate options to access renewable energy supply. These lowcarbon design principles, combined with low transport emissions due to Clark’s proximity to future EV supply chains in North America, is expected to favourably position our HPMSM product with customers seeking to address greenhouse gas emissions throughout their supply chains. Ideally positioned to supply the rapidly forming North American electric vehicle supply chain
Clark is currently the only advanced project in the US that has a visible pathway to produce battery-grade manganese for the domestic market from locally sourced ore. Based on our projected EV battery demand and chemistry assumptions, we anticipate substantial growth in demand for battery-grade manganese in North America.
Government policies that subsidise EVs are forecast to deliver a near six-fold increase in North American EV penetration levels by 2030.
Demand for battery-grade manganese is anticipated to further benefit from the adoption of manganese-rich chemistries that provide EV users with substantial cost, performance and sustainable sourcing benefits. Government policies are also incentivising the build out of battery EV supply chains in the US including the procurement of critical minerals from domestic sources. With the current available supply of battery-grade manganese to North America heavily reliant on Chinese producers, the potential development of Clark will provide a new domestic source of production to strengthen the US supply chain