Nova Scotia manganese eyed for batteries

Yava Technologies wants to extract a variety of minerals and metals from Silver Mine, a deserted settlement near Marion Bridge in Cape Breton.

Company president Bob Pepper is particularly excited about the deposit of manganese, which is used in making batteries for cellphones, laptops and electric vehicles.

He said there's a shortage of pure manganese right now.

"It could be the birth of the real advancement of the electric and hybrid vehicle industry around the world because it solves a major, major problem that everybody has," he said.

The company touts its method of extracting minerals as an environmentally friendly process.

This involves pumping a chemical solution through a series of wells to dissolve the minerals underground. The solution is then brought to the surface and pumped into a treatment plant on site.

"It eliminates all the pollution that's normally caused by underground mining," Pepper said.

Pepper said Yava's process is also cheaper than traditional methods, and those savings can be passed on to the carmakers.

"The main thing that's holding back the industry is the expense of the batteries," he said.

Pepper said the company will seek environmental approval soon so it can run field tests next year.