Emerging processed graphite supplier International Graphite has been buoyed by WA Government approval to proceed with its planned installation of a micronising qualification plant and related infrastructure at its downstream research facility in Collie.
The new plant is being shipped from North America and management says it is expected to be up and running before the end of the year, significantly expanding the company’s graphite research and development capability by replacing its existing pilot processing plant that had been in use since late last year.
Since its installation, the pilot plant has produced micronised and spheroidised graphite, yielding positive proof-of-concept that WA has the capacity to produce downstream graphite battery anode materials (BAM).
Having successfully navigated that hurdle, management believed its next move was to manufacture products to meet specifications and gain materials approval from international customers. It then undertook a scoping study into establishing an integrated commercial BAM processing facility in Collie.
The study envisaged an initial modular plant of 4000 tonnes per annum throughput that would comprise two parallel streams to be brought online in stages – the first to produce uncoated spheroidised graphite, followed by a second stage carbon-coating facility to produce coated spherical graphite.
In March, the company revealed that the study had confirmed an excellent case for the project and set about identifying a site suitable for the staged growth of commercial operations. Management says it settled on a site in Collie because the land was already cleared, well-served by sealed roads and civil infrastructure, had ample space to accommodate initial designs and future expansion and most importantly, the town lay at the heart of WA’s primary power generation system, offering energy at the lowest possible costs.
Micronised graphite is a by-product of the micronising and spheroidising process used in the production of BAM and contributes to the economics of BAM production. A commercial scale micronising facility would help establish markets for future micronised by-products that would be produced from our planned Collie Graphite BAM Facility which would treat graphite concentrates produced from our 100% owned Springdale Graphite Project, near Hopetoun in Western Australia. International Graphite managing director and chief executive officer Andrew Worland
The new qualification plant to be installed by year’s end is designed to process micronised graphite concentrates from 100 to 200 tonnes per annum for quality and performance evaluation by potential customers.
In addition, the qualification plant will be used to develop graphite operating and materials handling expertise. It would be available for testwork on graphite concentrates from the company’s Springdale graphite project near the coastal town of Hopetoun and would also assist with research, development and market-suitable qualification of its feedstock.
Graphite is a key material used in battery anodes, of which China is the world’s major producer. Purified micronised graphite is used as a conductive additive to battery cathodes and in other industrial applications and is also an essential step in the production of purified spheroidised graphite for battery anodes.
Management says that by 2025, it expects to have a fully-integrated battery anode project with feedstock coming from its planned graphite mine at Springdale. A micronising operation would progress the company’s plans to be WA’s first mine-to-market graphitic BAM producer to help meet the demands of the growing lithium-ion battery market.
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