High purity battery graphite developer EcoGraf Limited (ASX: EGR) has formalised a Participant Agreement with the Australian Government-backed Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBI CRC).
The A$135 million FBI CRC, based at Curtin University in Perth, aims to position Australia as a global leader in the manufacture, deployment, recycling and supply of batteries and battery materials by partnering with industry, research institutions and government to address industry-identified gaps in the nation’s battery industries value chain.
Managing Director, Andrew Spinks, said EcoGraf will be one of FBI CRC’s industry partners, helping to provide the technology needed to identify opportunities for greater efficiencies in battery minerals’ extraction and refinement.
Mr Spinks said EcoGraf’s proposed development in Kwinana, Western Australia is consistent with FBI CRC goals, which aim to expand battery minerals and chemicals production and develop opportunities for manufacturing batteries in Australia.
“The company’s eco-friendly graphite purification technology at its planned Kwinana development will provide critical material for FBI CRC research programmes,” Mr Spinks said.
“Significant downstream and value-adding opportunities exist within graphite supply chain markets, particularly in the manufacture of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries as customers increasingly seek alternative supplies of high quality, responsibly produced raw materials.”
EcoGraf Limited is building a vertically integrated business to produce high purity graphite for the lithium-ion battery market.
Its new state-of-the-art processing facility in Western Australia will manufacture spherical graphite products for export to Asia, Europe and North America using a superior, environmentally responsible purification technology to provide customers with sustainably produced, high performance battery anode graphite.
In time the company plans to expand its battery graphite production base to include additional facilities in Europe and North America to support the global transition to renewable energy in the coming decade.
