Battery materials and technology company Novonix (ASX:NVX) intends to purchase the Enterprise South Industrial Park in Tennessee, US, after executing a definitive agreement.
This agreement follows the recent unanimous approvals from the City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, and the Chattanooga Industrial Development Board, completing the necessary local government endorsements for the acquisition.
Novonix, which has a market capitalisation of $286.22 million, will acquire the land for US$5 million ($5.63 million), which will serve as the site for the company’s second facility of ‘high-performance’ synthetic graphite.
The facility is expected to reach an initial production capacity of 31,500 tonnes per year and is anticipated to create 450 to 500 full-time jobs.
With this initial capacity at Enterprise South and the existing Riverside facility — scaling up to 20,000 tonnes per year — Novonix expects to have a total production capacity of more than 50,000 tonnes per year.
CEO Robert Long says this marks a “significant” step in the company’s expansion strategy.
“We look forward to deepening our roots in the community and contributing to the region’s economic growth,” Long says.
Concurrently, the company is expecting to receive US$54 million in total net tax and other benefits from the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County over a 15-year period, contingent upon meeting specific conditions outlined in the agreement.
Novonix does not intend to close on the purchase of Enterprise South until the conditions precedent — relating to a US$754 million loan and $62.8 million in capitalised interest from the Loan Programs Office of the US Department of Energy — have been satisfied.
Novonix is focused on the global lithium-ion battery industry with innovative, sustainable technologies, high-performance materials and more efficient production methods.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Novonix
