ASX Graphite Stocks: 5 Biggest Companies

Market cap: AU$473.61 million; current share price: AU$0.665

Syrah Resources is an industrial minerals and technology company with a vision of becoming a leading global supplier of graphite and battery anode products. Its two main focuses are its flagship Balama graphite project in Mozambique and its Vidalia anode materials facility in the US. Syrah’s Balama operation has a projected lifespan of over 50 years, and its combined mining and processing operations allow for the production of 94 to 98 percent pure carbon graphite concentrate.

In 2022, the company was selected to receive an up to US$220 million grant from the US Department of Energy. The funds are being used to support the financing of a potential expansion at Syrah's Vidalia facility. This means the company could be en route to becoming the world’s first integrated graphite processor outside of China. Construction of Vidalia's initial phase is currently nearing full completion, with production slated to begin in the December 2023 quarter.

More recently, Syrah shared its natural graphite offtake diversification and marketing strategy. The company has already secured binding offtake agreements with Graphex Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Graphex Group (NYSEAMERICAN:GRFX,HKEX:6128), and with Westwater Resources (NYSEAMERICAN:WWR).

Market cap: AU$402.241 million; current share price: AU$1.08

Talga Group is a vertically integrated battery anode and materials company, meaning it mines its own graphite and also produces anodes. It has operations in Sweden, Japan, Australia, Germany and the UK.

In April, Talga received environmental approval for its Nunasvaara South graphite mine, which forms part of its vertically integrated Vittangi anode project in Sweden. A few months later, in June, the company received the environmental permit for its battery anode plant; according to Talga, it will be Europe's first commercial natural graphite anode plant. Construction was underway as of September.

Market cap: AU$380.911 million; current share price: AU$0.15

Renascor Resources has honed its efforts on helping to power the future with clean energy resources. While the company has five projects, most of its activities are focused on its two fully owned projects in South Australia: the Siviour battery anode materials project and the Carnding gold project.

Renascor announced that its Siviour mine and concentrator received approval from South Australia's Department for Energy and Mining in late 2022. This approval allows for the processing of up to 1.65 million tonnes of graphite per year, which would put its goal of 150,000 tonnes per year of graphite concentrate well within reach.

In mid-2023, the company entered into a licensing agreement with German battery minerals consultancy Dorfner ANZAPLAN to apply an eco-friendly purification process to produce battery-grade purified spherical graphite at the planned Siviour facility. This deal was followed by an updated mineral ore reserve estimate that supports Siviour as the largest proven graphite reserve outside of Africa, as well as the second largest proven graphite reserve in the world. Additionally, the mineral resource estimate for the project increased by 25 percent.

Market cap: AU$356.691 million; current share price: AU$0.715

NOVONIX is a Brisbane-based clean energy technology company with a focus on EVs and energy storage. Its anode materials division is one of the top synthetic graphite suppliers for the North American battery supply chain.

NOVONIX has an agreement with KORE Power, an American battery technology developer, to become its sole supplier of battery anode products. As part of its deal with KORE, NOVONIX is expanding its Riverside facility in Tennessee, US. The company will work to increase Riverside's capacity to 10,000 tonnes of synthetic graphite per year; it is on track to begin delivering 3,000 tonnes per year starting in 2024 and will hit about 12,000 tonnes per year by 2028.

NOVONIX has a joint venture agreement with TAQAT to produce battery materials in Saudi Arabia, as well as a joint venture agreement with LG Energy Solution (KRX:373220) to develop graphite anode material. The company has also garnered funding support from both the Canadian and US governments, including C$3 million from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program and US$100 million from the US Department of Energy.

Market cap: AU$239.276 million; current share price: AU$0.43

Sovereign Metals is focused on advancing on its Kasiya rutile-graphite project in Malawi. Rutile is a mineral consisting of titanium dioxide that's often used to produce titanium metal. Kasiya's graphite co-product mineral resource estimate is 1.8 billion tonnes at 1.4 percent graphite, containing over 24.4 million tonnes of graphite. The company believes this material has the potential to supply spherical purified graphite for the lithium-ion battery anode market.

In July, Sovereign Metals announced that major miner Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO,ASX:RIO) would make a strategic investment of AU$40.4 million for an initial 15 percent stake in the company. The funds will go to advancing Kasiya, and Rio Tinto will provide technical and marketing help with respect to the graphite co-product. Later in September, Sovereign Metals released a prefeasibility study for Kasiya showing the project has the potential to be the lowest-cost producer of graphite globally.