Wood to design Europe's largest high-purity manganese processing facility

Wood, a global consulting and engineering company, has been awarded a major award by Euro Manganese to deliver a unique mineral project critical to the energy transition.  This cost-reimbursable contract will be delivered by Wood’s Projects business unit and is in line with Wood’s end market growth strategy.

Wood will deliver front end engineering and design (FEED) and EPCm solutions for Europe’s largest proposed high-purity manganese processing facility as part of the Chvaletice Manganese Project, in the Czech Republic.

This unique and innovative project involves the processing of historic mine tailings, traditionally a waste product, to extract manganese deposits from a decommissioned mine.

Manganese is recognised as an essential mineral used in most lithium-ion batteries and the European Commission recently included it on its list of critical minerals. The Chvaletice site is the only significant identified source of manganese in the European Union. Demand for manganese is forecast to increase almost eight-fold over the next ten years in response to the dramatic uptake in electric vehicle adoption making the need for sustainable mining solutions critical.

Ken Gilmartin, CEO at Wood, said: “This project holds real significance for Wood as we continue to lead the development of critical mineral projects to support the energy transition. We have the mineral project capability and specialist expertise in advanced hydrometallurgy to successfully deliver this innovative project. This is a perfect example of the kind of projects we are passionate about as we continue to design a sustainable future for energy and materials.”

Dr. Matthew James, President & CEO of Euro Manganese, said: “Awarding the EPCm contract to Wood is the result of an extensive and robust selection process and I am very pleased to be partnering with such a high calibre engineering firm. We look forward to building a world-class facility to produce high-purity manganese, an essential component in most lithium-ion batteries. Together, we are working to advance the global energy transition.”

The combined FEED and EPCm contract has a duration of approximately four years and will be delivered collaboratively by Wood’s Project teams in Perth, Australia and Milan, Italy.