Alabama Graphite to Work on Producing Coated Spherical Graphite

Alabama Graphite Corp. (TSXV:ALP,OTCQX:ABGPF) announced that it’s started work on the production of coated spherical graphite (CSPG). The material is used in lithium-ion batteries.

As quoted in the press release:

Although there are a large number of uses for graphite currently, the main interest has come from Lithium Ion Batteries. There is approximately 10 times more graphite in a lithium ion battery than lithium. In fact the supply critical material for a lithium ion battery is graphite, not lithium. The United States Government and the European Union have identified graphite as a supply critical material. China produces 75% of the flake graphite consumed today, and approximately 90% of spherical graphite (SPG) used in batteries. Industrial Minerals Magazine and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimate that 60,000 tonnes per year of graphite is consumed in the manufacture of anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries, and that figure is broken down to approximately 35,000 tonnes of natural graphite and 25,000 tonnes of synthetic graphite. It is widely recognized that the SPG manufactured in China is not the result of environmentally sustainable processes. Synthetic graphite is made from a by-product of refining oil, in an energy intensive process, resulting in a very large carbon dioxide footprint. Both sources are not compatible with Western environmental standards of manufacturing. Companies making electric vehicles and other green energy products are understandably being held accountable for the environmental footprint of their input materials. This trend is growing, as is the market, opening the door for environmentally sustainable production of graphite in the West, namely Alabama, USA. Alabama Graphite has the potential to be the first and only graphite producer in the continental United States. The current world consumption of flake graphite is 400,000 tonnes per year. The market for batteries alone, beyond 2020, is estimated to be 1.7 million tonnes.

Don Baxter, co-CEO of Alabama Graphite, commented:

One of my first tasks upon joining Alabama Graphite was to initiate and fast track work on battery ready graphite. This market has been identified as the one with the largest growth potential while providing the potential for much higher margins. Alabama Graphite is now one of very few companies with management that has actual graphite experience, including mining, processing operations and now value-added graphite production.

Click here to read the full Alabama Graphite Corp. (TSXV:ALP,OTCQX:ABGPF) press release.