Manganese developer Element 25 upbeat Donald Trump won’t ‘go backwards’ in funding Aussie miners

A WA company picked to receive $240 million under US President Joe Biden’s $1.2 billion pre-election spending spree on Australian miners hopes the funding won’t be canned by a protectionist Trump Government. Element 25 chief executive Justin Brown believes the intent of the Biden and Trump administrations are “very similar” and is not expecting the US to “go backwards” in its mission to boost the manufacturing muscle of allied countries. The Osborne Park-based manganese developer was shortlisted in September for a lucrative $US166m ($243m) grant from the Department of Energy to build what would be the first high-purity manganese sulphate plant in the US. Listed multi-commodity miner South32 was also shortlisted for $243m from the Department, meanwhile Mid West vanadium hopeful Australian Vanadium and Sydney-based American Rare Earths are in the running for $45m and $680m, respectively, from the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The funding spree comes as the super power makes inroads to firm up new supplies of critical minerals and reduce its reliance on China. But there is a big question mark as to whether President Elect Donald Trump will dish out the cash, after declaring back in May he would pull any “unspent” funds under the Inflation Reduction Act, according to Politico. Perth USAsia Centre chief executive Gordon Flake predicted a Trump presidency would likely create “uncertainty” surrounding funding for Australian companies. E25 boss Mr Brown said the explorer was in negotiations with the energy department to wrap up the final agreements and make the grant terms binding. “On balance, the intent of both administrations is very similar, and we’re not necessarily expecting things to go backwards in that regard. I guess what we’re waiting for is clarity on the detail of the policy changes that might come to bear,” he said. “The engagement with the DOE at the moment is that the round we were part of is intact and full steam ahead. “We’re in negotiations with DOE on wrapping up the final grant agreement . . . to make those grant terms binding, and that’s happening now, no change at all to that process. So as far as we can tell, there’s no impact at this stage.” If fully awarded, the grant will underpin the build costs of what would be the first high-purity manganese sulphate plant in the US, where Element 25 eventually plans to be producing 135,000 tonnes per annum of the raw material precursor to be used in electric vehicle battery cathodes. The inbound US President looks set to deliver an ‘America first’ agenda potentially featuring tough tariffs that some fear could hurt foreign producers exporting to the US. Mr Brown said there was a risk the manganese Element 25 would export from its Butcherbird mine in the Pilbara to feed the refinery in Lousiana could be stung by import tariffs. That might be avoided if the material was classed as domestic supply under the National Defense Authorisation Act. The company is busily working away to lift production capacity in parallel with the US facility and ahead of an eventual restart of Butcherbird after halting production in early 2024 amid depressed prices. Asked what the new administration might spell for its own potential funding from the US, a South32 spokesperson said there had been “board bipartisan support in the US for Hermosa” - its proposed manganese-zinc mine and planned refinery in Arizona. “We expect that to continue,” he said.