Evion Group (ASX:EVG) has been accepted into the Cornerstone Consortium, a US Department of Defence (DoD) public-private industrial base vehicle designed to strengthen American supply chain resilience.
Established in 2018 under the Office of the Secretary of Defence Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, the consortium spans 18 industrial base sectors, including Materials.
Membership provides Evion direct visibility of and eligibility to respond to competitive DoD solicitations.
Evion’s asset base aligns with the consortium through its Carp Fluorspar Project in Nevada; the Maniry Graphite Project in Madagascar; and the Panthera Graphite Processing Plant in India, which ships expandable graphite to the US and Europe.
Fluorspar and graphite are designated US critical minerals, with the US importing 100% of its fluorspar requirements with no domestic primary production. It also imports the vast majority of its graphite concentrates and downstream graphite products.
Historically, the Carp Fluorspar Project produced approximately 44,900 tonnes at an average grade of 69% calcium fluoride (CaF2), with surface rock chip sampling confirming grades of up to 88.15% CaF2.
Meanwhile, Evion currently holds a 50:50 interest in the Panthera Graphite Technologies downstream processing joint venture, with the business unit achieving positive EBITDA in FY2026.
Managing Director David Round says being a member of the consortium enables Evion to see requirements when they are issued and provides eligibility for the company to respond.
“For a company with a domestic American fluorspar asset and an operating non-China graphite processing business, that is exactly where we want to be,” Round says.
“The US imports every tonne of fluorspar it consumes. Graphite is not far behind. Washington has been explicit that it intends to fix that, and it has built the funding architecture to do it.
“Our job is to be positioned, credible, and known when those requirements come out, and this is a deliberate step toward that.”
The membership follows the appointment of former Australian Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos as strategic advisor.
Evion is currently preparing its capability positioning across the Materials sector while advancing field programs at Carp toward drill targeting.
Evion Group is a critical minerals company focused on mining, exploring, and supplying graphite and fluorspar, with a mine-to-market supply chain across Madagascar, India, Europe, and the US.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au
