Industry partners form North American Critical Manganese Alliance  

Canadian Manganese Company (CMC), together with GreenMet, AmForge LLC and Flash Metals USA announced Monday a partnership establishing the North American Critical Manganese Alliance (NACMA), a long-term strategic collaboration to develop the first fully integrated North American manganese supply chain. 

Manganese has become an increasingly important critical mineral supporting electric vehicle batteries, grid-scale energy storage, specialty steels, advanced manufacturing and numerous defense applications.  

NACMA has been established in response to the growing need for secure allied sources of manganese and recognizes that North America presently lacks a fully integrated domestic manganese supply chain, the companies said in a statement.  

NACMA brings together expertise in critical mineral development, project financing, industrial manufacturing and specialty processing with the objective of creating a secure, vertically integrated Canada-United States manganese ecosystem capable of supporting the growing requirements of advanced manufacturing, defense, aerospace, energy storage and other strategically important industries, GreenMet, a Washington DC- based firm acting as a conduit between private capital, government and the critical minerals industry, said.  

The Alliance, the companies said in a joint statement, represents a coordinated effort to develop an integrated industrial platform extending from the extraction of manganese ore in Canada through primary refining, specialty processing and advanced manufacturing in the United States, creating anallied supply chain for one of North America’s most strategically important critical minerals. 

NACMA is anchored by Canadian Manganese’s Woodstock project in New Brunswick, Canada. The project, the companies said, is North America’s largest known manganese carbonate system and a strategic resource capable of supporting long-term production of high-purity manganese products.  

As the foundational feedstock source for NACMA, the project enables the creation of an integrated industrial ecosystem designed to maximize value creation through downstream processing and advanced manufacturing, the companies said, adding that they aim to develop two complementary industrial platforms that together establish a complete North American manganese value chain. 

Canadian platform 

The Canadian platform is expected to be centered in New Brunswick and include Woodstock project development, mining and mineral beneficiation, hydrometallurgical refining and production of intermediate manganese products and future value-added processing opportunities. 

United States platform 

The United States platform is expected to be centered in West Virginia and include specialty manganese processing, advanced manganese chemicals, battery materials, specialty alloys, defense and aerospace materials, and additive manufacturing feedstocks.  

Together, the complementary platforms are intended to establish a secure North American manganese supply chain extending from mineral extraction to advanced manufacturing, the companies said.  

“The establishment of NACMA represents an important milestone in realizing our long-held vision for the Woodstock project,” Canadian Manganese CEO W. Matthew Allas said in a news release.  

“Rather than viewing Woodstock as simply a mining project, we have always believed it should serve as the cornerstone of an integrated North American manganese industry. Through this Alliance, we are bringing together the expertise required to build a secure allied supply chain that creates substantial long-term value for Canada, the United States and strategic industrial partners,” Allas said.  

“NACMA is designed to integrate strategic capital, industrial expertise and long-term commercial relationships into a coordinated development platform,” GreenMet  CEODrew Horn added.  

“Our objective is to accelerate the creation of a globally competitive North American manganese industry capable of supporting future generations of advanced manufacturing.”