Firebird Metals has revealed that its manganese-iron phosphate (MFP) results exceed China industry standards, paving the way for the company to ramp up production.
Firebird said it achieved these results from leveraging its proprietary high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) technology to utilise HPMSM before crystallisation to produce MFP precursor.
This goes against how most solution-based lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) manufacturing routes rely on externally sourced electrolytic manganese metal (EMM) or HPMSM.
Testwork completed at Firebird’s China laboratory has shown an improvement over several key performance parameters compared with China national industry standards and customer requirements.
Ron Mitchell, Firebird CEO said: “Achieving performance improvement over China industry standards, across multiple parameters, is a significant technical milestone for Firebird and a strong validation of our proprietary battery materials production process.
“The results, supported by both internal and independent testwork, give us confidence that our MFP precursor can meet the demanding requirements of LMFP cathode producers.”
Firebird is now targeting production of MFP PCAM, CAM and other high purity battery materials at its Australian Demonstration Plant (ADP) in 2026.
The ADP will deliver a fully integrated commercialisation pathway from manganese concentrate to LMFP cathode materials tailored to Western markets.
It will be Australia’s first demonstration-scale facility capable of converting manganese ore into HPMSM.
Successfully validating the ADP will establish a training, knowledge-transfer and development hub.
This platform will strengthen Firebird’s capacity to independently develop, refine and patent new technologies within Australia.
The ADP will also provide the technical foundation for commercial-scale feasibility studies for a concentrate-to-cathode process using Oakover ore as the preferred feed source.
It will also de-risk the pathway to a commercial-scale manganese battery-materials facility in Australia, ensuring a smoother transition from demonstration to full-scale production.