International Graphite (ASX:IG6) is on the hunt for potential offtake partners as it works to launch its Collie Process Facility in Western Australia.
Speaking to Mining.com.au on the sidelines of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Sydney last week, International Graphite Director of Marketing and Communication Marie Howarth says the company plans to continue to build its customer base in North America and Europe.
“We are looking for offtake partners, but it’s about what opportunities pop up and what we can do. We want to see the development of Australian resources and an Australian product we can take to the market, which fits in with the government’s commitment to being a renewable energy superpower.
“We want to see the development of Australian resources and an Australian product we can take to the market, which fits in with the government’s commitment to being a renewable energy superpower”
So far, we have been the recipients of $6.7 million in government grants: $2 million from the WA government as part of the Collie transition program and $4.7 million from the May critical minerals allocation from the Federal Government.
When we come to somewhere like IMARC, we are talking to investors, but we also have to build our customer base. Our primary market is Europe and North America.”
Howarth states delivering a product to the market remains the company’s top priority.
“We are very open to seeing what the market has got going, but it’s developing the technology; getting a product into the market is the priority.”
Howarth adds that China’s recent decision to cut exports of graphite is all the more reason to establish secure supply chains out of Western Australia, where the company has recently delivered a new Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its Springdale resource — the second-largest graphite resource in Australia.
“We have been working very hard since listing in April 18 months ago to fast-track our development. The demand and growth in electric vehicles has been pretty obvious; there is a need for a massive increase in graphite supply, so we have been keeping up a fast but sensible pace as much as we can.
The announcement from China really highlights that the supply chain is as fragile and just as exposed as we have believed for quite some time. It really makes us feel much more confident in the mine-to-market vision we have for graphite coming out of Western Australia, a tier-one resource jurisdiction, and the confidence it offers to overseas customers in Europe and North America makes us feel comfortable that that is where we need to be.”
“The announcement from China really highlights that the supply chain is as fragile and just as exposed as we have believed for quite some time”
To close off 2023 and lay the foundations for 2024, Howarth says the company will continue to build the Springdale resource and commission equipment currently being installed at the Collie facility.
“It is a resource of significance, and we are continuing to build up that resource to demonstrate we have the capacity for a more sustainable long-life mining operation.
We are, at this minute, installing larger qualification scale equipment [at the Collie Facility], which we expect to commission in November, that will create samples of sufficient quality and volume to show international customers what we have got.”
International Graphite is focused on building Australia’s capability in critical battery minerals and establishing a new ethical supply of battery anode graphite to support the global revolution in clean energy.
The company’s Springdale Graphite Project is expected to feed the processing operations at Collie and holds a JORC 2012 MRE of 49.3 million tonnes (Mt) @ 6.5% total graphitic content (TGC).
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: International Graphite
