Firebird Metals (ASX:FRB) has been awarded a $2 million grant from the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) Battery Breakthrough Initiative (BBI).
Funds from the ARENA grant will be used to support a demonstration plant in Perth that will process manganese ore directly into cathode active materials (CAM) for the electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage systems (ESS) markets.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller says battery manufacturing is a “key part of Australia’s energy transition and economic future”, as the energy source delivers a reliable, affordable, and low-emissions opportunity.
“Firebird Metals’ Perth demonstration-scale facility is an important step toward building domestic capability to convert Australian manganese into battery cathode materials, strengthening supply chain resilience and supporting the growth of next-generation battery manufacturing,” Miller says.
Firebird’s Australian Demonstration Plant (ADP) removes conventional processing steps with proprietary and patented equipment. The company says it is energy and capital efficient, providing the full value chain from manganese feedstock through to finished cathode materials.
Firebird CEO Ron Mitchell says the acknowledgement of the company with this ARENA grant is a “defining moment”.
“It represents an independent, rigorous validation by the Australian Government of our proprietary technology, a world-first integrated process that converts manganese ore directly into finished cathode active materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries applied in the EV and ESS markets,” Mitchell says.
“The funding directly supports the construction and commissioning of our Australian Demonstration Plant, which we intend to be the world’s first fully integrated manganese-to-CAM processing facility outside China.
“This is the kind of sovereign manufacturing capability that Australia, and the broader Western battery supply chain, urgently needs.”
Firebird Chairman Evan Cranston says ARENA’s grant, which backs Firebird, confirms the credibility of the company’s technology and marks it as “commercially relevant and strategically important”.
“As Western governments and major industrial players accelerate efforts to de-risk battery supply chains from Chinese dependency, Firebird is positioned at the intersection of technology innovation and geopolitical necessity,” Cranston says.
“The ARENA grant strengthens our hand as we engage with the large offtake partners, licensees, and project financiers that will be critical to scaling our technology beyond the ADP.”
Firebird Metals is an advanced manganese developer focused on combining mining and downstream processing to supply the EV and ESS sectors.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Firebird Metals
