South Africa's first HPMSM plant commissioned as manganese emerges as the battery mineral LMFP is making indispensable

Summary

Manganese Metal Company (MMC) commissioned Africa's first battery-grade high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate (HPMSM) plant at Nelspruit, South Africa on June 11, 2026, with a Phase 1 nameplate of 6,000 tonnes per year feeding into lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathode supply chains. The commissioning arrives as LMFP's share of Chinese EV battery installations reached approximately 18% in 2025, up from 9% in 2024, with CATL and BYD both expanding dedicated LMFP lines. Gabon issued a presidential decree in March 2026 banning export of unprocessed manganese ore from January 2029, requiring in-country processing, adding to supply-side uncertainty for seaborne ore. In the US, Electric Metals USA released a Preliminary Economic Assessment for its North Star Minnesota project in May 2026, projecting 100,000 tpa HPMSM capacity with $474.8 million in pre-production capital. South32's GEMCO mine in Australia, the dominant seaborne ore supplier, completed its ramp following 2024 cyclone damage and shipped 3.2 million wet tonnes in FY2026, but the ore-to-HPMSM processing premium held firm at $800-$1,000 per tonne above implied ore value as demand from the battery sector outpaced battery-grade refining capacity.

The split

Chinese battery manufacturers and cathode producers (CATL, Hunan Yuneng) argue that LMFP represents the optimum battery chemistry for most passenger EVs: it eliminates cobalt and nickel cost and supply-chain risk, increases energy density over standard LFP, and uses abundant manganese rather than constrained lithium alone. Western battery analysts (Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, Roskill) note that battery-grade HPMSM at 99.8%+ purity is structurally different from the lower-grade electrolytic manganese metal or manganese ore that constitutes most of global production, and that the refining technology is concentrated in China, creating a secondary processing dependency analogous to the rare earth separation problem. South African mining industry commentary focuses on the Kalahari Manganese Field's competitive advantage: the Northern Cape hosts 40% of global manganese geological resources, and HPMSM processing at source would capture refining margin rather than exporting ore to China for processing. Gabon's export ban is contested by Eramet, which argues COMILOG needs development capital before it can fund in-country processing at scale.

By the numbers

• 6,000 tpa, MMC Phase 1 HPMSM capacity at Nelspruit, operational June 11, 2026.
• 20,000 tpa, target for MMC Phase 2 HPMSM expansion.
• 18%, LMFP share of Chinese EV battery installations in 2025 (up from 9% in 2024).
• ~110,000t HPMSM, projected global battery-sector manganese demand by 2028 (Benchmark).
• January 1, 2029, Gabon's effective date for the unprocessed manganese ore export ban.
• 100,000 tpa, Electric Metals North Star HPMSM project nameplate (PEA, May 2026).
• $474.8M, North Star pre-production capital (PEA, May 2026).
• 3.2Mt wet tonnes, South32 GEMCO FY2026 production (Australia, world's largest seaborne ore exporter).
• ~40%, South Africa's share of global manganese geological resources (Kalahari Manganese Field).

Why it matters

Manganese was largely absent from critical-mineral policy discussions through 2024 because it was not scarce: it is the fourth most commonly mined metal by volume, dominated by South Africa, Australia and Gabon. LMFP battery chemistry changed that calculus. LMFP uses roughly 7-8 times more manganese per kWh than NMC or standard LFP, and at battery-grade purity, the processing technology is concentrated in China. As LMFP captures share of EV battery production, manganese transitions from a steel-industry input into a battery-critical mineral with a processing-concentration risk. Gabon's 2029 export ban and South Africa's MMC Phase 1 commissioning represent independent attempts to capture downstream value from the world's largest manganese resource base, but both face the same constraint: battery-grade HPMSM refining know-how and capital are concentrated in China, and the 2029 deadline is tight for Gabon given COMILOG's current state.

What to watch

• MMC Phase 2 HPMSM timeline and financing: whether a Western offtake partner (LG Chem, Panasonic, Samsung SDI) is secured to underwrite the expansion.
• LMFP adoption outside China: whether European or US battery gigafactories (Northvolt successors, ACC, Panasonic Kansas) specify LMFP chemistry, extending Western demand for HPMSM.
• Gabon's enforcement mechanism for the 2029 ore export ban and whether Eramet negotiates an exemption or accelerates COMILOG's in-country processing investment.
• Electric Metals North Star project: whether the $474.8M PEA converts to a Feasibility Study and secures DoE loan funding under the IRA 45X supply-chain framework.
• HPMSM price trajectory: whether battery-grade premiums over ore expand further as LMFP capacity scales in 2026-2027.