South32 has taken another step forward at its Hermosa project in Arizona, with the US Forest Service releasing the draft environmental impact statement.
The milestone positions the zinc-lead-silver deposit for a final permitting decision, as construction at Hermosa reaches 40 per cent complete.
All required state-level permits have already been granted by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
South32 is expected to enter production from its Taylor deposit in the second half of the 2026–27 financial year, with an initial mine life of 28 years at an EBITDA margin of 50 per cent and internal rate return of 12 per cent.
The deposit has attracted $US2.16 billion ($3.39 billion) investment, the largest in Arizona’s mining history.
The broader Hermosa project also includes the Clark manganese-zinc-silver deposit, which could position the US for self-reliance on manganese, a federally designated critical mineral.
“Whether suppliers are going to be willing to be completely reliant on one source, that’s a whole separate discussion,” Hermosa president Pat Risner told Fastmarkets.
“Many of them do want a diversification in their supply chains, but I would say, given the scale of the manganese deposit in the district, it’s certainly possible.”
Hermosa is the only advanced US mining project capable of producing both manganese and zinc, and South32 has already engaged 16 entities in the battery supply chain, with two non-binding memoranda of understanding in place.
“Hermosa would be the only fully integrated source of battery-grade manganese in North America, where it is mined and processed into a finished product that can go into precursor material domestically,” Risner said.
South32 is also preparing to begin construction of a zinc processing facility and remains focused on supplying North American smelters.
“With Hermosa, we are absolutely focused on North American smelters to try to ensure we still serve a domestic market and a domestic need for the zinc,” Risner said.
“We’re forecasting a four-million-tonne gap between zinc supply and demand by 2033, which is only eight years away now.”
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