A small-cap ASX mining stock is making its shareholders very happy today.
Shares in the manganese-focused miner entered a trading halt on Friday.
The company requested the pause in trading pending an announcement by the United States Department of Energy (DoE). Element 25 was previously selected for award negotiations with the DoE relating to a grant in support of its High Purity Manganese project, located in the US state of Louisiana.
Shares in the ASX mining stock closed last Thursday trading for 21.5 cents apiece.
In early trade on Tuesday, shares just leapt to 48.0 cents, up an eye-popping 123.3%. After some likely profit trade, shares are currently swapping hands for 43.5 cents each, up 102.3%.
Any guesses?
If you said Element 25 Ltd (ASX: E25), give yourself a virtual gold star.
Here's what's captured investor interest today.
ASX mining stock rockets on US grant news
The Element 25 share price is going to the moon after the company reported that it was selected for award negotiations for a US$166 million (AU$243.8 million) grant from the DoE under the Battery Materials Processing Grant Program.
The program is intended to provide grants for battery materials processing to ensure that the US has a viable battery materials processing industry.
Management noted that the grant award comes atop of the US$115 million already committed to the ASX mining stock by offtake partners General Motors and Stellantis.
They said the new funding will support the construction of its proposed battery-grade high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) project in Louisiana.
Forming a key part of Element 25's financing strategy, the company said it will now work to finalise the project schedule, subject to grant finalisation.
Element 25 said it plans to produce HPMSM from manganese ore sourced from its Butcherbird mine in Western Australia, which will then be shipped to Louisiana.
Commenting on the DoE grant sending the ASX mining stock surging today, Element 25 managing director Justin Brown said:
This grant from the US Department of Energy, once finalised, represents a major milestone in our development of the Louisiana HPMSM Project and adds to the commitments already received from GM and Stellantis which include both offtake and financing agreements in support of the refinery.
Brown added:
The grant will fund up to half of the construction capital costs for the project and when combined with existing commitments, will propel the project towards financial close and commencement of construction, creating long-term jobs for Louisiana and delivering ethically sourced, IRA compliant HPMSM to our customers.
With today's intraday gains factored in, shares in the ASX mining stock are back in the green in 2024.
