Graphite R&D grants open to manufacturers, miners eyeing US battery market

CSIRO has launched a new R&D grant program, offering mining and manufacturing SMEs (fewer than 200 employees) specialising in graphite between $10,000 and $50,000 per project as well as access to facilities and expertise.

In a statement on Friday, the nation’s scientific agency said the grant opportunity’s focus is on “accelerat[ing] the growth of the domestic battery industry and open[ing] up export opportunities,” particularly those in the US.

The Graphite Research and Development Grant program’s budget was given as $400,000.

“This grant opportunity will help Australian businesses develop the innovative technologies and processes needed to become global leaders in natural graphite production for battery applications, by partnering with CSIRO scientists and leveraging our expertise in R&D,” said CSIRO Principal Research Scientist, Dr Adam Best.

“While Australia currently has limited export markets for the specialised type of graphite used in batteries, we are ideally positioned to become a key supplier to the US and other global markets given our significant natural endowment of this critical mineral.”

Examples of eligible projects were given as:

– Spheronisation, purification and electrochemical testing of natural graphite; 

– Identifying new sources for synthetic graphite production;

– Finding better ways to recover and reuse graphite at the end of battery life; and 

– Exploring techniques to enhance the quality and performance of graphite in battery applications.

A webinar explaining the program will be held on February 13. (Details are available here.)

Applications are currently open, with more details available at this link.

Picture: supplied