Manganese Refining

HPMSM · EMM · LMFP · LMR

Manganese ore is cheap and plentiful, mostly for steel. The battery-grade sulfate made from it comes almost entirely from China.

A split bar shows steel and alloys take about 90% of manganese and batteries only a few percent. Below, the battery route: ore from South Africa and Gabon is leached directly or first made into electrolytic manganese metal (EMM) to remove iron and heavy metals, then crystallized as high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate (HPMSM), about 95% made in China, for NMC, LMFP and LMR cathodes. WHERE MANGANESE GOES Steel and alloys ~90% batteries: a few percent BATTERY ROUTE Ore S. Africa, Gabon Leach or EMM remove Fe, metals HPMSM China ~95% Cathode NMC, LMFP, LMR
China share of HPMSM
~95%
Battery share of demand
A few percent
Battery chemical
MnSO4·H2O
Growing uses
LMFP, LMR
Hub
Supply Chain

Finding

Manganese supply risk sits entirely in refining: ore is abundant, but China makes about 95% of battery-grade manganese sulfate and most of the electrolytic manganese metal behind it

South Africa, Gabon and Australia mine most manganese, almost all for steelmaking. Battery-grade high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate (HPMSM) needs iron, heavy metals, calcium and magnesium held to low-ppm levels, and in China it is often made by dissolving electrolytic manganese metal (EMM) from Guangxi, Guizhou and Ningxia producers - a cheap but power-hungry route. CITIC Dameng, CNGR and Guizhou producers dominate.

Demand is rising with chemistry shifts. LMFP adds manganese to LFP; lithium manganese-rich (LMR) cathodes that GM and LG Energy Solution plan for 2028 use far more manganese than nickel; mid-nickel, high-manganese NMC is replacing some 811. Western HPMSM projects have struggled for financing: Euro Manganese's Chvaletice project in the Czech Republic stalled, and Element 25's Louisiana plant, backed by a DOE grant and GM and Stellantis offtake, is the main US project. South32's Hermosa project in Arizona includes the Clark battery-grade manganese deposit.

Plants

Manganese refining and chemical plants

Producers and projects for battery-grade manganese; China is shown by its largest producers.

Manganese refining and chemical plants
CompanyFacilityLocationProductsRoute / status
CITIC Dameng MiningDaxin and Chongzuo manganese chemical plantsGuangxi, ChinaEMM, HPMSM, manganese dioxideIntegrated mine to chemical; operating
CNGR Advanced MaterialTongren and Qinzhou basesGuizhou and Guangxi, ChinaManganese sulfate, precursorsHydromet; operating
GEMJingmen battery materials baseHubei, ChinaManganese sulfate, precursorsHydromet; operating
Ningxia Tianyuan ManganeseEMM and manganese chemical plantsNingxia, ChinaEMM, manganese chemicalsElectrolytic plus chemical; world's largest EMM producer
Element 25HPMSM plantLouisiana, United StatesHPMSMDevelopment; DOE grant, GM and Stellantis offtake
Euro ManganeseChvaletice projectCzech RepublicHPMSM, high-purity EMMTailings reprocessing; stalled on financing
South32Groote Eylandt (GEMCO); Hermosa (Clark deposit)Northern Territory, Australia; Arizona, United StatesManganese ore; battery-grade manganese (planned)Mining; Hermosa in development
Manganese X EnergyBattery HillNew Brunswick, CanadaManganese sulfate (planned)Exploration
MOIL and Indian producersElectrolytic manganese dioxide and sulfate plantsIndiaEMD, manganese sulfateOperating

Routes

Products and routes

Battery manganese products and routes
Product / routeWhat it isNote
HPMSMHigh-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate, ~32% MnMain battery input for NMC, LMFP and LMR precursors
EMMElectrolytic manganese metalCommon Chinese intermediate; dissolved to make sulfate
Ore-to-sulfateReductive leach of ore, purify, crystallizeAvoids the EMM step; harder impurity control
EMM-to-sulfateDissolve EMM in sulfuric acid, crystallizeSimpler purification; high electricity use

Sources

Sources and scope

Scope
Manganese Refining
Sources
IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025; USGS; company reports (Element 25, Euro Manganese, South32)
Updated
October 2026