A strong rebound in electric vehicle (EV) production is expected to tighten the graphite market in 2021, providing impetus for the advancement of several graphite mining and anode plant projects.
EV sales climbed by 106pc year on year during the fourth quarter of 2020, according to estimates from African graphite producer Syrah Resources, with a rise in prices and customer enquiries for natural graphite, which is used in EV battery anodes.
Graphite mining outside China is growing but the industry remains reliant on China to produce anodes. Graphite has been designated as a strategic mineral in the US, EU and Japan as automotive manufacturers around the world increasingly compete with Chinese manufacturers to secure supply. The graphite market has been predominantly driven by demand from the steel industry, but the EV sector is expected to account for a larger share of demand in the coming years.
The need to increase graphite supply outside China to meet the uptick in EV production this year and beyond has accelerated investment in projects in Canada, the US and Europe.
Canada-based Nouveau Monde Graphite this month started construction on the 1,500 t/yr first phase of its anode material purification facility in Quebec and has acquired the land for the second phase. Equipment deliveries are scheduled for February and March, with critical items related to gas treatment and handling of chlorine and graphite expected to arrive in April and May, ahead of the planned start-up of the furnaces in late June.
Nouveau Monde Graphite expects to produce the first high-purity spherical graphite in mid-2021 to advance its qualification process with major battery makers to secure long-term supply agreements. The plant will produce 40,000 t/yr of anode material once it reaches full-scale commercial operation by early 2023, with the option to expand in response to demand.
Canadian mining developer Northern Graphite said late last week that it plans to raise $2.8mn in a private placement to finalise operational permitting for its Bissett Creek graphite project and continue testing various processes for upgrading mine concentrate into value-added products. The resource has a high percentage of large and extra-large graphite flake required for battery-grade material and the first phase of the project includes a 3,000 t/d processing plant producing over 20,000 t/yr of concentrate.
The Graphite Creek project in Alaska owned by Canada-based Graphite One was this month designated as a high-priority infrastructure project by the US government's Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Committee (FPISC). That allows it to list on the Federal Permitting Dashboard, which ensures that federal permitting agencies co-ordinate their project review authorities, aimed at a more efficient approval process. The integrated project plans to convert Graphite Creek's 60,000 t/yr graphite concentrate output into 41,850 t/yr of EV battery grade coated spherical graphite and 13,500 t/yr of purified graphite powder.
Syrah Resources will install a furnace during the first quarter at its processing plant in Louisiana, where it is developing plans for a 10,000 t/yr battery anode material facility that will process graphite from its mine in Mozambique. It will make a final investment decision on plant construction during the second half of 2021, depending on customer agreements and financing.
Australia-based Talga Resources last week completed an A$30mn ($23mn) capital raising that was scaled up from $10mn to meet investor demand. The investment will allow the company to bring forward its project development, including completion of a 25,000t trial mine at its Niska South site in Sweden and production of up to 5,000t of product samples; the start of early-stage infrastructure works for its 19,000 t/yr Vittangi anode project, where it plans to begin commercial production in 2023; increased drilling to expand resource estimates across its Swedish sites; and development and commercialisation of its silicon and solid-state anodes.
In Norway, Australia-based Mineral Commodities has secured two additional sites near its Skaland graphite mine — the largest producing graphite mine in Europe. The sites are also near the Bukken exploration project the company acquired last year, as it looks to expand the future production capacity at its graphite processing facility in Senja. It will start exploration in the second quarter of 2021.
Renascor, which is developing its integrated Siviour battery anode material project in South Australia, said last week it has received first stage product qualification for its purified spherical graphite from Miguang New Material, which is building a 40,000 t/yr battery anode plant in China. The results will allow the companies to enter a binding offtake agreement for 10,000 t/yr of graphite, around one third of Siviour's initial capacity. Renascor is negotiating with anode manufacturers and lithium-ion battery companies in Europe and northeast Asia for the balance of the planned production.
By Nicole Willing
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