International Graphite (IG6) has secured $4.5 million in government funding to construct the first purpose-built commercial graphite micronising plant in Collie, Western Australia.
IG6 has entered into an agreement with the WA Government Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI), with $2 million of the $4.5 million to be applied towards the facility.
The remaining $2.5 million will be applied to expand the facility and double capacity.
“We are excited to be pushing ahead with the construction of the new plant at Collie,” IG6 managing director and chief executive officer Andrew Worland said.
Worland said the company is expecting the facility to be among the most significant global producers of micronised graphite outside of China.
“Establishing a micronising business in Collie has been an important step in our development plans,” he said. “Critically, it will establish the company as a producer in the graphite industry and build further our technical skills as we progress our Springdale mine to market battery anode material strategy.”
IG6 will now complete a front-end engineering and design study over the coming months, aimed at confirming the implementation schedule and forecasted economics for stage one of the project.
The plant will be built in two stages, made possible in part by the operating experience gained from the Collie graphite processing and research and development facility opened in 2022.
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