Rocher Deboule Minerals (TSX.V: RD) has just received a preliminary economic assessment on their Artillery Mountains Manganese Project western Arizona, and the report indicates there is robust potential to develop the first pure manganese producer in United States in several decades.

The assessment is based on a recent NI 43-101-compliant resource estimate for the project which shows an indicated resource of over a billion pounds and an inferred resource of over 9 billion pounds of manganese. The report estimates the currently defined resources are sufficient for 17 years continuous operation from which high purity manganese metal could be produced at a rate of 108 million pounds/year (49,000 tonnes/year). There are currently no manganese mines in production in the US or Canada for this essential steel hardener.

Larry Reaugh, president of Rocher Deboule told Smartstox much more about the company’s plans for manganese production at the Artillery Mountains in our Smartstox interview available at http://www.smartstox.com/interviews/rd/.