International Graphite (ASX:IG6) has received AU$4 million from the Western Australian government.
A large portion of the funds, which were awarded under the Government Investment Attraction Fund, will go toward the bulk extraction of ore from the company’s Springdale deposit in Western Australia.
The money will also be used for process development and customer offtake analysis, and for the installation of state-of-the art, demonstration-scale graphite spheroidising equipment at the Collie graphite-processing and R&D facility.
“This grant acknowledges the critical importance of building a reliable, sovereign supply of battery graphite materials as quickly as possible and the opportunities this opens for WA to attract trade and investment from international markets,” International Graphite Managing Director and CEO Andrew Worland said in a January 15 release.
The grant was allocated from the Investment Attraction Fund’s New Energies Industries Funding Stream, which is administered by the state’s Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
“We are grateful for the ongoing support we have received from the WA Government which recognises the importance of backing new industries to create jobs and support a clean energy future,” Worland continued.
Springdale is located in the Albany Frazer Belt, regarded as one of Australia’s most sought-after exploration regions. It is now the second largest graphite deposit in the country and one of the top 15 in the world.
The company shared bench-scale micronising, spheroidising and purification testwork results in October 2024, achieving a loss-on-ignition grade of 99.99 percent on purification testwork. According to International Graphite, this measure exceeds published industry benchmarks of 99.97 percent for anode materials.
The Collie facility will mainly process concentrate from Springdale project once it is in production. It is positioned to be the first purpose-built commercial graphite micronising plant in Australia.
In November 2024, International Graphite was awarded AU$4.5 million under a grant from the Australian government’s Critical Minerals Office to fund the construction of the facility.
The latest grant includes a signed two year financial assistance agreement with the state.
It sets out various activities that are expected to be undertaken to meet the objectives of progressing the Springdale graphite resource, plus developing the technology and processes required to produce battery materials.
Access to the funding will be granted to the company once all agreed-upon activities are completed.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: International Graphite is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.
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