Firebird Metals has made history by becoming the first Australian-owned company to produce lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), positioning itself to become a key player in the low-cost manganese-based cathode material market.
The company has successfully created LMFP batteries by processing manganese sulphate into LMFP cathode active material (CAM). The CAM has been manufactured into button batteries, which are now awaiting further analysis and testing.
The testing is being conducted under Firebird’s strategic collaboration agreement with Central South University (CSU) in Hunan, China. The partnership, first announced in October 2024, focuses on developing a process to produce LMFP from Firebird’s proposed battery-grade manganese sulphate plant in Jinshi.
To date, five batches of the material have been completed, with plans to test 100 batches. Each batch will be converted into button batteries for full evaluation and analysis.
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