South32 has secured a $20 million award from the Department of Defense to increase domestic production of a chemical element essential to developing both lithium-ion batteries and cobalt-based batteries.
The award made through the Defense Production Act Investment Program supports South32’s Hermosa Project, which aims to sustainably produce battery-grade manganese in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, the DOD said Friday.
South32 will become the first sustainable, domestic producer of battery-grade manganese once the project is completed. With the investment, the mining company is expected to provide the essential material used in batteries for defense and civilian applications two years earlier than planned.
The award is also aligned with the 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy, which calls for continued and enhanced support for domestic production of materials to boost supply chain resilience.
“This first DPA award for manganese production is a big step towards reducing import dependency throughout the battery material supply chain,” said Anthony Di Stasio, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base resilience.
Since the beginning of fiscal year 2024, the DPA investment program has allocated $356 million in total for 16 awards.
