The Element 25 Ltd (ASX: E25) share price is dropping today, despite positive news. At the time of writing, the manganese producer's share price is down 2.1%, trading at $1.88.
The change came after the company announced this morning that its Butcherbird Project is nearly ready to begin production of ore.
The Element 25 share price has had a monumental year. It's currently holding a whopping 1,132% return over the last 12 months.
By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up by 9%.
What's moving the Element 25 share price?
Today's announcement
Element 25 announced this morning that it will begin producing ore later this month, with pre-commissioning activities commencing today.
The project is expected to be powered up by the end of the week. Dry commissioning will then begin, with the mine finalised and productive by second half of March 2021.
Element 25 believes manganese is becoming an increasingly important ingredient in the making of batteries to power electric vehicles.
It has noted potential supply constraints on both nickel and cobalt, which could cause battery manufacturers to turn to high manganese cathodes to produce the cathode material required for electric vehicles.
About the Butcherbird Project
The Butcherbird Project, located in Western Australia, will eventually produce high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate to power electric vehicles.
The project's advanced flowsheet development work confirmed a unique ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure leach process for the ore. It plans to combine this with offsets to target the world's first Zero Carbon Manganese™ for electric vehicle cathode manufacture.
The company is planning to integrate renewable energy into the project's energy needs over time, hoping to eventually reach a zero-carbon footprint.
Element 25 holds 100% ownership of the Butcherbird Project, having footed a $17 million bill for the first stage of development.
A Pre-Feasibility Study conducted by Element 25 highlighted the potential for significant expansion of the Butcherbird Project's initial production within the first 12 months of operation.
