American Manganese Inc (AMYZF)

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American Manganese Receives Canadian Patent for Manganese Extraction Process

AMY now holds patent in Canada, US, China and South Africa

Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Larry W. Reaugh, Chief Executive Officer of American Manganese Inc. (“American Manganese” or the “Company”), (TSX.V: AMY; OTC.US: AMYZF; FSE: 2AM), reports that the Company has received Patent No. 2,808,627 from the Canadian Patent Office for the Company’s manganese recovery process, for which the Company already holds patents in the USA, China and South Africa. The Canadian patent was applied for on August 16, 2011.

The invention is a technical break-through which enables the recovery of manganese from a low-grade resource using significantly less energy and environmental impact than conventional processing methods. Kemetco Research Inc. successfully demonstrated the process can compete with other electrolytic manganese metal (EMM) and electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) producers in the lower percentile of costs for producers anywhere in the world and has been a valued partner in adapting the Company’s manganese recovery process to recover nearly 100% of the cathode materials from lithium-ion batteries.

The patent describes key details of how manganese can be recovered from a low-grade resource with the following key advantages:

Low energy requirement.
Low water use.
Robust process with a unique assembly of commercially available equipment.
High purity manganese dioxide is combined with lithium carbonate to form the cathode material used in the “spinel” type lithium-ion rechargeable battery.
The hydrometallurgical process developed by the Company is capable of producing high purity electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) and chemical manganese dioxide (CMD), both of which are critical for improving performance and safety of lithium-ion batteries. The invention bypasses steps known to introduce metallic impurities when producing these materials using conventional mining processes. Norman Chow, President of Kemetco Research states, “Conventional mining processes used to produce manganese dioxide for lithium ion batteries are known to contaminate cathode materials with metallic impurities. These impurities can cause internal short circuits after a number of charge/discharge cycles, which will bypass any protection circuits and unfortunately can lead to fires or explosions.”

Manganese is one of three metals and minerals targeted by AMY in its battery-materials recovery process that is now on the U.S. Government Critical Minerals List, due to its importance to the economy and national security. (Please see the Company’s May 31, 2018 - American Manganese’s Battery Materials Recovery Targets Include 3 Metals/Minerals Included On The U.S. Government’s Newly-Published Critical Minerals List for further details).