Unveiling Electric Metals: A Deep Dive into Manganese Mining with CEO Brian Savage
In this episode, we chat with Brian Savage, CEO of Electric Metals, a US-based exploration and mineral development company developing the high-grade Emily manganese mine in Minnesota with the intention of producing high-value high purity manganese products for electrification and decarbonization energy transition strategies, particularly the electric vehicle and energy storage sector. With a mine engineering degree and a master's in mineral economics, Brian is an entrepreneurial executive with a history of identifying, building, transforming, and growing businesses in challenging jurisdictions in the mining industry and gives us an overview of Electric Metals, what they are looking to achieve, an update on the manganese market and what is happening in the North American mining industry. KEY TAKEAWAYS Electric Metals is focused on developing the high-grade manganese mine in Minnesota to produce high-value purity manganese products for electrification and decarbonisation strategies. The company aims to become the low-cost producer of domestically sourced high-purity manganese products, particularly targeting the electric vehicle and energy storage sectors. Manganese is the fourth most used metal by tonnage, primarily used in the steel industry, with high-purity manganese products being essential for electric vehicle batteries. Electric Metals' strategic goals include accelerating mine development, constructing a high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate plant, and capitalizing on the growing demand for metals in the green energy transition. The importance of domestic manganese production in the US is highlighted for national security reasons and to reduce supply chain risks associated with heavy reliance on imports from China. BEST MOMENTS "Manganese is the fourth most used metal by tonnage, behind iron, copper, and aluminium. And so when you look at the development of the economy, anything that needs to be built generally has steel in it." "We want to get into production just as quickly as we possibly can in order to take advantage of that market. And while the electric vehicle and the battery sector are starting to push forward, all that manganese that's being imported, we want to start displacing that." "National security, that's probably the main driver. There is a strategic stockpile of manganese. There's the critical minerals list that they come up with, and they list all the minerals that are primarily critical for national security purposes." "We want to accelerate the development of that mine to get it into a mine plan and mine development just as quickly as we possibly can." VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail: rob@mining-international.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/ X: https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast Web: http://www.mining-international.org Website: https://electricmetals.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/electric-metals/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/electricmetalsusa X: https://twitter.com/emetalsusa Brian LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briansavage/ ABOUT THE HOST Rob Tyson is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first-world to third-world countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. We source, headhunt, and discover new and top talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients' organisations in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative, and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace. CONTACT METHOD rob@mining-international.org https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people’s experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.