American Manganese to work for U.S. Defense Logistics Agency on manganese stockpile

American Manganese Inc. [AMY-TSXV; AMYZF-OTC; 2AM-FSE] announced that the United States Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has awarded the company a grant to perform work on the United States Government’s manganese ore stockpile located near Wenden, Arizona, with the goal of producing electrolytic manganese metal (EMM) for the nation. The DLA manages combat logistics across all U.S. Armed Services and oversees the U.S. National Defense Stockpile (NDS).

AMY has been awarded a grant to conduct tests of the Wenden stockpile to confirm the viability of using the company’s patented hydrometallurgical process to recover EMM from the stockpile. If successful, the DLA, together with AMY, will proceed to transform sub-economic manganese resources into a valuable source of EMM, an outcome in line with the DLA’s acquisition plan for EMM as well as President Trump’s Executive Order 13953 (September 30, 2020), “Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain From Reliance on Critical Minerals From Foreign Adversaries and Supporting the Domestic Mining and Processing Industries.” This project has garnered strong support from members of the Senate and Congress:

“The United States should never be reliant on an adversary like China for minerals critical to our national defense,” Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) said.  “I have been working to bring America’s crucial supply chain home from China and today’s announcement is a positive step toward that goal.”

“As a Member of Congress, it is seldom that I see such a clearly amazing opportunity,” said Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ). “The successful execution of this project could transform an unwanted stockpile of low-grade material, long ago paid for by the U.S. taxpayer, into a NDS stockpile material (EMM). The U.S. simply cannot remain dependent on Chinese supply chains – particularly when electrolytic manganese metal is a designated strategic defense mineral.”

The DLA grant constitutes AMY’s second project to gain support from the U.S. government