Bryah Resources’ (ASX:BYH) manganese JV in the Bryah Basin has received a boost after its partner completed all funding requirements to earn a 51% stake in the project.

OM Holdings (ASX:OMH) move to take up its stake by completing Stage 2 – Tranche 4 expenditure of $500,000 is a show of confidence in the project, where exploration has identified significant manganese mineralisation at the Horseshoe South Manganese Mine, Brumby Creek and Black Hill Prospects.

Manganese is considered to be a critical metal by the US Geological Survey due to its essential role in the production of steel with greater strength and flexibility.

More manganese, please

It is also finding increasing used in batteries with the Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) and Lithium Manganese Oxide (LMO) chemistries.

“The 51% milestone reflects the desire to get the Bryah Basin former manganese mining centre back into production,” chief executive officer Ashley Jones said.

“The JV committee and Bryah exploration team have been very successful in their exploration efforts to date and believe that there is significant potential to identify sufficient resources to support the commencement of high-grade manganese mining operations in the near future.

“The progression of this Joint Venture will be exciting, as we look toward the next stage of the project.

“This will be two-pronged; with further drilling and GAIP surveys to find new buried channel manganese prospects, and the upcoming mineral resource estimates underpinning mining licence applications and taking us closer to production.”

OM JV and further activity

To date, OMH has spent $3m on the JV and it now has the opportunity to increase its stake to 60% by funding another $1.8m.

Bryah has the option to contribute to expenditure to maintain its 49% stake.

Resource estimates for the JV project are due to be released in the next two weeks.

Upcoming work includes a gradient array induced polarisation survey covering prospective areas, with drilling in March to follow-up on the Brumby West and GAIP targets.

Ore sorting of bulk samples is being carried out by Steinert while mining licence applications to support future feedstocks will be based on the granted mining lease at Horseshoe Manganese M52/806.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Bryah Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Read MoreNickel

Featured Companies

You might be interested in