Manganese X Energy Corp. has announced plans to commence the pre-feasibility study in-fill and step-out drilling program at its wholly owned Battery Hill Project located near Woodstock, New Brunswick. Tendering for the proposed drilling program is underway with commencement tentatively scheduled for late October 2022.
The goal of the drill program is to in-fill and expand the Measured and Indicated resources in preparation for the pre-feasibility study (“PFS”) by upgrading the inferred category resource included in the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) mine plan. The program will include an estimated 25 NQ drillholes totaling approximately 3,500 meters.
Martin Kepman, CEO of Manganese X, stated, “We are very excited to begin this drill program that will support our pre-feasibility study to demonstrate and highlight the robust potential of the Battery Hill deposit as indicated by the PEA. The completion of the in-fill drilling program this fall, will allow the Company to move quickly into the pre-feasibility stage in 2023. We intend to be at the forefront of a domestic Canadian high-purity manganese supply, readily available to North American battery manufacturers. Manganese X’s objective is to become the first publicly traded company in Canada and the US to commercialize high-purity electric vehicle (EV) quality compliant manganese.”
In addition to this drilling program Manganese X is scoping the engineering, environmental and social studies to support the PFS work program. Geotechnical and hydrogeological drilling is planned for open pit mine design and to advance the understanding of ground conditions in proposed infrastructure sites. In preparation for this geotechnical work, scheduled for the spring of 2023, site visits and field work by the Company’s engineering consultants will be completed this fall. Additional environmental baseline data will continue to be collected through 2022 and 2023.