International Graphite awarded mining lease for Springdale Central deposit

International Graphite (ASX: IG6) has been granted a mining lease for the Springdale Central deposit at its flagship Springdale project in Western Australia, considered to be one of the biggest graphite resources in Australia and among the top 15 worldwide.

Alongside the M74/0253 permit granted last week over the Mason Bay discovery, the two leases cover nearly all of Springdale’s existing mineral resources and are part of the company’s fully-integrated graphite supply strategy to transport material to overseas markets from WA via a processing facility at Collie.

Once operational, Springdale is expected to produce sufficient amounts of graphite to meet global demand for battery anode materials.

Potential customers

International Graphite’s supply strategy has attracted the attention of potential customers and financing partners from North America, Japan and Korea.

The project’s potential has received significant government backing including $6.5 million from WA and $4.7m at the federal level.

The plant is expected to be Australia’s first purpose-built graphite processing facility and will significantly increase the nation’s sovereign supply of critical battery materials.

Bench-scale tests

Last month, International Graphite announced positive results from bench-scale micronising, spheroidising and purification test work on graphite concentrates generated from Springdale.

Testing was conducted by industry specialist ProGraphite GmbH using a 23-kilogram sample of 95.3% loss on ignition (LOI) grade concentrate to produce a purified spheroidised graphite product.

Purification used an acid-based process to achieve 99.99% LOI grade, which exceeds published industry benchmarks for anode materials.

PM’s visit

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese visited International Graphite’s development facility at Collie in September to assess the company’s contribution to the nation’s critical minerals industry.

The facility is Australia’s first downstream graphite pilot and product qualification plant and a key link in the company’s mine-to-market development strategy at Springdale.

International Graphite expects the visit to accelerate development of the facility, given the growing global demand for quality graphite.