Grant secures start to Collie graphite plant

Battery materials company International Graphite has secured funding to construct the first purpose-built commercial graphite micronising plant in Australia.

The company has entered into a funding agreement with the Western Australian Government releasing $4.5 million of the grant announced by WA Premier Roger Cook on 22 April 2024.

$2.0 million will support construction of Stage 1 comprising a ~3,000 tpa micronising facility to be built at an estimated capital cost of $4 million, adjacent to the company’s premises in the Collie Light Industrial Area.

A further $2.5 million from the grant will be applied towards expansion of the facility in Stage 2.

Managing Director and CEO Andrew Worland said: “Establishing a micronising business in Collie has been an important step in our development plans.

“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.”

The new facility will ultimately process concentrate from the company’s planned mine at Springdale, in WA.

The company envisages growing the Collie Micronising Facility to around 10,000 tpa capacity. The plant is expected to produce 95 percent total graphitic content (TGC) and 99 percent TGC micronised products.

Worland said: “At those production levels, our Collie facility will be amongst the most significant global producers of micronised graphite outside of China.”

A front-end engineering and design (FEED) study is expected to be completed over the coming
months which will confirm the implementation schedule and forecast economics for Stage 1.

Further reading:
International Graphite fires up battery anode graphite pilot plant

Picture: International Graphite/At the site for the new commercial micronising plant at Collie(L to R) WA Regional Development Minister Don Punch, IG6 Chairman Phil Hearse, Collie-Preston MLA Jodie Hanns and IG6 Managing Director Andrew Worland.