Government Green Light For Construction Of New Graphite Micronising Qualification Plant At Collie

International Graphite (ASX: IG6) has received works approval from the Western Australian Government to install new graphite micronising equipment at the Company’s downstream research and development facility in Collie, Western Australia.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Construction works approval received from the Western Australian Department of Water and Environmental Regulation
• Enables installation of a new micronising qualification plant and associated infrastructure to proceed
• Significantly expands International Graphite’s downstream graphite R&D Facility at Collie
• Equipment due for delivery in September 2023 and expected to be operational by late 2023
• Micronised graphite products have an established primary market and are a by-product of the battery anode material production process

The equipment is currently in transit from North America and is expected to arrive at Fremantle Port next month (September 2023).

The custom-built ”qualification-scale” plant is a significant advancement on the Company’s pilot processing plant, the first of its kind in Australia, which was commissioned in September 2022¹.

The new qualification plant is designed to process graphite concentrates to produce a commercial micronised graphite product for quality and performance evaluation by potential customers. Capable of producing 100tpa to 200tpa of micronised graphite, the plant will also be used to develop graphite operating and materials handling expertise within the Company.

In March 2023, the Company released a definitive feasibility study² for a commercial micronising facility with throughput of up to 4,000tpa.

Managing Director and CEO Andrew Worland said a micronising operation would progress International Graphite’s plans to be the first mine-to-market producer in Western Australia of graphite battery anode materials (BAM) for the growing lithium-ion battery market.

“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,” he said.

“A commercial scale micronising facility would help establish markets for future micronised by-products that would be produced from our planned Collie Graphite BAM Facility³ which

would treat graphite concentrates produced from our 100% owned Springdale Graphite Project, near Hopetoun in Western Australia.”

The new qualification plant will also be available to progress testwork on graphite concentrates from Springdale and will assist with research and development and market qualification of the Springdale graphite material.

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