Element 25 signed a binding term sheet with Veolia North America to secure a site for its planned high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) refinery in Louisiana. The site, a 35-acre parcel in Burnside, Ascension Parish, LA is next to a Veolia-operated sulphuric acid production facility. The agreement includes terms for E25 to acquire the land, and to establish essential utility and service agreements, including a long-term sulphuric acid supply from Veolia.

“E25 aims to be a leading source of high quality, vertically integrated, traceable and ESG and IRA-compliant battery material to the global electric vehicle industry,” Managing Director Justin Brown said. “Construction of our HPMSM facility in the USA—the first of its kind there—requires a project site with the necessary services and utilities and access to sulphuric acid as a key reagent, to allow the project to proceed. The Veolia site meets these requirements, and we are pleased to have signed this TS with Veolia as an important step forward in project execution.”

“As part of our Green Up strategy, we are pleased to contribute to the vehicle electrification value chain alongside Element 25,” said Stu Thomas, Veolia North America CEO of Sustainable Energy Solutions. “This operation will be complementary to our Burnside facility, bringing positive economic impact to Ascension Parish, and also have a long-term societal benefit to the energy transition.”

Element 25 said securing a project site is a milestone in the company’s agreement with General Motors, one of its partners in the HPMSM project. GM has committed $85M in senior secured debt funding to the Burnside project and GM’s investment is in parallel to the investment by its second offtake and funding partner Stellantis N.V.