Firebird Metals, an Australia-listed miner, announced on Tuesday that it has received a critical safety permit for its battery-grade manganese sulphate project in Jinshi, Hunan, China. This permit allows the company to build and operate the planned plant, marking a significant milestone in the project's development.

The safety permit is one of three critical permits required to commence construction, with the environmental and energy permits expected to be obtained by the end of June. In total, Firebird will need to secure eight permits to run the plant. The company has already received the project initiation permit from China's National Development and Reform Committee.

Firebird plans to make a final investment decision on the project in the second half of 2024, with operations expected to start in late 2025. The construction period is forecasted to take 12-15 months.

"We are moving at a rapid pace on the ground in China, and that is due to the hard work of our leading manganese team and the strong level of in-country support we have and continue to receive," commented Peter Allen, the managing director. "Importantly, we continue to tick all the boxes in the delivery of our high-purity manganese sulphate strategy and have defined a low-cost, near-term pathway to production.

“The project will process manganese from Western Australia into cathode materials for lithium iron manganese phosphate (LMFP) batteries, primarily targeting the Chinese market. In Phase 1, it will produce 50,000 tonnes/year of manganese sulphate and 10,000 tonnes/year of manganese tetroxide. In Phase 2, production will increase to 300,000 tonnes/year of manganese sulphate.