Kibaran plans graphite project in Western Australia

Australian graphite developer Kibaran Resources is planning a battery grade graphite production facility at Kwinana in Western Australia (WA), and intends to set up other facilities in Asia-Pacific and Europe.

A completed engineering study confirms the potential to develop a 5,000 t/yr facility in Kwinana, known as WA's "lithium valley", with the potential to expand production to around 20,000 t/yr, Kibaran said.

Kwinana earned its nickname by hosting several downstream lithium developments, as well as through plans by local and international companies to build value-added lithium and other battery metal projects. The name echoes the "lithium triangle" in South America, straddling Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, which owns the world's largest lithium brine resources.

Kibaran removes potentially toxic hydrofluoric acid from its graphite production process using its proprietary EcoGraf purification methodology.

"Graphite will be procured and processed at Kwinana from a range of suppliers and exported to lithium-ion battery consumers in Asia, the US and Europe," it said. The first stage plant has an estimated capital cost of $22.8mn with a further $49mn required for the expansion. Exports of around $72mn/yr could be generated.

Kibaran is developing the Epanko graphite project in Tanzania, but it does not expect to use this for feedstock for the Kwinana project. Instead, once Epanko is in production, it intends to evaluate downstream processing opportunities for graphite in Tanzania and elsewhere in east Africa. Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar have the largest known graphite resources outside of China.

A site has been made available for the Kwinana graphite project, but funding and environmental approvals are still needed. An investment decision is expected in the first half of 2020. Kwinana is supported by the government-backed Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre in WA.

WA, the world's largest developer of hard rock lithium, is also developing other battery metal projects focused on nickel, cobalt and manganese. These are seen as the major ingredients in the cathodes for lithium-ion batteries. Graphite is the main ingredient for the anodes in lithium-ion batteries.

Kibaran said it plans to set up the EcoGraf manufacturing facilities in Asia-Pacific, Australia and Europe to take advantage of growing demand for geographically diverse and environmentally sustainable sources of battery grade graphite.