Electric Metals (USA) Limited has expanded its technical evaluation of the North Star Manganese Project in Minnesota by launching an integrated optimization program that broadens previous ore-sorting assessments and incorporates downstream processing circuits into early engineering design.

The program marks a shift from the single-drillcore particle testing reported in June 2026. While the earlier assessment focused on particle-scale sorting of drill samples from the Emily Deposit, the current workstream expands evaluation to include particle-size recovery, crush-size optimization, and staged sorting.

The optimization initiative runs multiple technical workstreams in parallel, covering geology, ore sorting, metallurgy, downstream engineering, and environmental review. A key addition is a 10,000 tonnes per year electrolytic manganese metal circuit, which is incorporated into the project’s Front-End Loading 1 engineering study alongside initial high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate production capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year, expanding to 200,000 tonnes per year in Year 3.

The work builds upon a Preliminary Economic Assessment outlining an after-tax net present value of US$1.39 billion at a 10% discount rate, an after-tax internal rate of return of 43.5%, average annual after-tax cash flow of US$249.6 million, and a 23-month payback period.

“The PEA told us what the North Star Manganese Project is worth, but it wasn't optimized; this program is about making the Project better and worth more,” said Brian Savage, Chief Executive Officer of Electric Metals. “These programs are how we sharpen an already compelling project's economics as we move toward pre-feasibility.”

Electric Metals expects to report results progressively as individual workstreams reach meaningful milestones through the balance of 2026 and into 2027. This data will feed into future resource-to-reserve conversion work and pre-feasibility planning.

“We're running geology, ore sorting, metallurgy, downstream engineering and environmental review in parallel because that's the fastest way to let each workstream inform the others in real time,” said Savage. “Shareholders should expect a steady flow of substantive project updates through the balance of 2026 and into 2027 as these programs reach meaningful milestones.”

The anticipated benefits of the optimization studies remain subject to further test work, engineering, and economic validation.

Read the full announcement: Electric Metals Launches Multi-Workstream Program to Strengthen Economics of the US$1.39 Billion North Star Manganese Project