As the new president and CEO of the Canada-listed NextSource Materials – which is chaired by former South African mining luminary and one-time Eskom FD Sir Mick Davis – ex-Sasol and Royal Bafokeng Platinum CFO Hanré Rossouw is now leading a major graphite advance.

The Toronto-based battery materials development company Rossouw began leading on Friday, November 1, is intent on becoming a vertically integrated global supplier of battery materials through the mining and value-added processing of graphite and other minerals.

Rossouw’s tenure will commence in Madagascar, where he will visit the group’s Molo graphite mine operation as well as engage with the community and government as part of a structured leadership transition plan, NextSource stated in a release to Engineering News & Mining Weekly.

NextSource last month shipped its first commercial consignment of graphite concentrate to US and European customers, with these initial container shipments of SuperFlake® graphite destined for key demand markets for higher-value graphite products, including refractory materials and graphite foils for consumer electronics and fire-retardant applications.

Molo mine, in its first phase, is being optimised to reach nameplate production capacity of 17 000 t/y of graphite concentrate amid graphite being a key anode component of batteries used in electric vehicles.

Also effective from November 1 is the transitioning of former NextSource president and CEO Craig Scherba to the newly created role of chief development officer, where focus will be on developing strategy, managing offtake negotiations and expanding the original equipment manufacturer relationships globally.

Rossouw expressed delight in being selected to lead the company during the next phase of its growth strategy, which is reflected in a build-out strategy for battery anode facilities and the bolstering of the management team.

“The vision to become a global leader in sustainable battery materials is unchanged, with the key priority being the successful ramp-up of Molo,” Rossouw pointed out.

NextSource has long-term offtakes with established industrial partners that account for more than 100% of the expected Phase 1 production of SuperFlake® graphite concentrate and coated spherical purified graphite from the company’s planned battery anode facility in Mauritius.

Phase 1 is powered by a solar-hybrid power plant that is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 11 300 t/y. Molo is accessible by an all-weather airstrip and a network of regional roads, which allows access to the ports of Toliara and Ehoala at Fort Dauphin.

Vision Blue’s Davis expressed confidence that the expanded management team under Rossouw’s leadership had the capabilities to capitalise on the many downstream opportunities in the graphite supply chain, through the staged roll-out of battery anode.

A major shareholder in NextSource, Vision Blue was created by Davis in December 2020 to capitalise on the structural change in battery mineral demand.

During his earlier period in mining, Davis raised more than $40-billion from global capital markets and completed more than $120- billion in corporate transactions.

NextSource’s investment in Molo is based on the surge in demand for battery material not being met by an appropriate supply side response.