International Graphite commissions micronising plant

The qualification-scale microniser, with a capacity of 200 tpy, is the largest in Australia and a milestone in the development of a domestic graphite industry. It will be the first to produce graphite products in Australia for customer acceptance testing.

The new plant is the precursor to a 4000 tpy commercial micronising facility the company expects to have operating at Collie within 18 months. Construction of the approximately AUS$12.5 million plant could be given the green light as early as mid-year.

Establishing a standalone micronising business is a novel road to market for the aspiring graphite producer whose ultimate goal is to be producing advanced battery anode materials at Collie from its 100% owned Springdale Graphite Project near Hopetoun in Western Australia.

A fully integrated graphite supply from Western Australia will be one of the first of its kind in the western world. The plan has already attracted the attention of potential customers and finance partners in Australia, Japan, Korea, and North America.

Micronising will enable the company to develop a customer base, gain operating experience, build markets for future by-products, and generate cashflow.

“We see breaking into the micronised graphite market as an important step in developing our Springdale – Collie mine to market strategy,” said Managing Director and CEO Andrew Worland.

“Demand for batteries will continue to grow. There are already more than 240 battery gigafactories operating worldwide, and up to 400 expected to open by 2030. All of them will need a secure source of graphite materials.

“Australian companies like us are in the box seat to deliver. We have the assets and the technical capability, and Western Australia has an unparallelled reputation as a top resource supplier with outstanding ESG credentials.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/handling-processing/13022024/international-graphite-commissions-micronising-plant/