Union Power Metals confirms Slovakia manganese drill programme
Union Power Metals (CSE: UPPR), a Vancouver-headquartered junior exploration company, has confirmed that its maiden drill programme at its manganese project portfolio in Slovakia has been approved and is moving towards mobilisation. The announcement positions the company within a broader European push to reduce dependency on non-Western sources of critical minerals, particularly those linked to battery manufacturing and industrial supply chains.
The Slovakian assets sit within what the company describes as a historically significant manganese district. The forthcoming programme will focus on priority targets drawn from prior exploration records, with a core objective of verifying historical results through modern analytical methods and assessing the potential for battery-grade manganese. Further details on drill design and target selection are expected as mobilisation proceeds.
Slovakia in the European Critical Minerals Race
The timing of the programme is not incidental. The European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act, which entered force in 2024, sets binding targets for domestic extraction and processing of strategic minerals, manganese among them. Manganese is an essential input in lithium-ion battery cathode chemistry, particularly in the manganese-rich LMFP and NMC formulations increasingly favoured by European gigafactory operators. Slovakia's EU membership removes a layer of jurisdictional risk that would apply to African or Central Asian sources, giving projects in the country a structural advantage in the eyes of offtake partners and project financiers operating under European supply-chain compliance frameworks.
Union Power's chief executive, Derrick Dao, said: "Slovakia represents a compelling opportunity for Union Power given the scale of the historical manganese district, its location within the European Union and the strategic importance of manganese to Europe's evolving battery and industrial supply chains."
Parallel Uranium Play in Botswana
In parallel, the company reports that its uranium exploration programme in Botswana remains on schedule, with airborne survey work already completed over the licence area. The survey data will be used to prioritise follow-up ground work. The dual-commodity, dual-continent structure positions Union Power as a small-cap proxy on two distinct critical mineral themes: the European battery supply chain and the global uranium demand recovery driven by nuclear power's rehabilitation as a low-carbon baseload technology.
For cross-sector investors, the convergence angle here is structural rather than immediate. Junior miners advancing EU-located critical mineral assets occupy an increasingly strategic position in the capital landscape as European automotive and battery groups seek to secure upstream exposure ahead of incoming supply-chain due-diligence regulations. Larger mining groups and battery makers have begun signing offtake and streaming arrangements with pre-revenue explorers specifically to lock in European-jurisdiction supply optionality. Union Power's programme, if it returns material results, would put the company on that radar, albeit at an early stage.
The broader capital picture for European critical minerals exploration has tightened in 2025 and into 2026, with generalist mining funds rotating selectively toward assets in politically stable EU jurisdictions. Slovakia, as a eurozone member with established mining permitting infrastructure, competes directly with projects in Finland, Portugal and Serbia for that capital attention. Union Power's ability to demonstrate drill results consistent with battery-grade thresholds will determine whether it attracts institutional interest or remains in the junior-market bracket.
No resource estimate, drill intercept data, or financing details are disclosed in this announcement. The programme remains at the pre-mobilisation stage.