Its a carbonate ore body which means although generally lower...

Its a carbonate ore body which means although generally lower grade, there are less impurities that have to be filtered out for production of battery grade materials than in an oxide ore body (making it more economial and better ESG credentials, or "woke" to use your terms). The only manganese oxide ore bodies that can be economically utilized to produce HPEMM/HPMSM require very high grades, of which are relatively rare (currently only two HPMSM producers in the world using oxide feedstock). That is why most manganese oxide deposits are focused on the production of ferroalloys for the steel market . For this reason, carbonate ore bodies are the preferred choice for production of battery grade manganese. As only 2% of known manganese reserves are carbonate, I consider this ore body to not be low grade trash like you believe, but a gem of a resource that will provide a critical domestic supply of HPMSM to the deluge of battery factories set to open in the coming years within the EU (regardless of if China is to flood the EV market).

Here is a good read to educate yourself on the matter: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/some-manganese-more-equal-than-others-matt-fernley?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via