Canadian graphite miner Gratomic signs deal to produce anode material for EV batteries


Canadian graphite miner Gratomic Inc. has signed a deal with Graphex Technologies to produce anode material for the EV/battery.

Gratomic owns the Aukam graphite mine in southern Namibia,  the Buckingham mine in Quebec, Canada and mineral claims in Capim Grosso in Brazil.

Graphex owns processing facilities in Asia and is developing a site in Warren, Michigan, USA, designed to produce 15,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of battery anode material. 

The company announced on Jan. 25 that the non-binding letter of intent entails Gratomic supplying raw materials to Graphex Technologies.

On its part, Graphex would provide all the technology, plans and expertise for building and operating the plant(s).

The statement says the partners intend to diligently and in good faith negotiate the terms of a joint venture, including management and ownership structures, to produce coated spherical graphite anode material for the EV/battery market. 

Gratomic wishes to emphasize that the supply of graphite is conditional on Gratomic being able to bring the Aukam project into a production phase and for any graphite being produced to meet specific technical and mineralization requirements.

"Gratomic shall remain entitled to enter into supply agreements with third parties for raw material not committed to the joint venture," the statement further said.

Collaborating with Gratomic would allow Graphex to expand its experienced mid-stream processing capabilities into North America and Europe. 

Gratomic chief executive officer Arno Brand said they had been working diligently for a long time to find a perfect match in a downstream processing partner to enable full cycle anode inclusion of their graphite product. 

Brand further said the collaboration between Gratomic and Graphex brings forth a combination unmatched in its ability to present real-life mining experience with real-life downstream processing experience. 

Graphex Technologies chief executive officer Hon DeMaio said the collaboration was within their commitment to secure diversified sources of graphite supply to meet the industry need for battery anode material.

DeMaio also said the collaboration with Gratomic opens up potential new raw material streams to meet the coming tidal wave of demand.

"We are excited to expedite the due diligence phase of the collaboration to assess the impact that we can make together. Combining the experience and expertise of Graphex in downstream processing with the anticipated raw material supply from the Gratomic assets is another step forward to improve the anode supply picture for the industry," DeMaio said.


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