Aim-listed Sovereign Metals has confirmed that its natural graphite anode material can be an excellent feedstock for battery production, with the Kasiya project, in Malawi, considered a high-quality source of coated spherical purified graphite outside of China.

Having conducted downstream testwork together with consultancy ProGraphite in Germany, Sovereign MD Frank Eagar confirms that anode material produced from Kasiya graphite concentrate has performance characteristics comparable with the highest-quality natural graphite battery material produced by dominant Chinese anode manufacturers.

The company conducted electrochemical testing on its material which achieved high first cycle efficiencies of 94.2% to 95.8%, meeting the highest-quality natural graphite anode standards that support long battery life.

Following spheronisation and purification testwork, which produced spherical graphite with very high purities of 99.99%, the purified spherical graphite samples were pitch coated and carbonised to produce coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG).

The coating process produced CSPG with very low Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area of 2 m²/g and lower and high tap densities of 1.11 g/cm³ to 1.18 g/cm³.

A low specific surface area is required for anode materials to minimise the loss of lithium in forming a secondary protective coating on the anode material known as the Solid Electrolyte Interphase. The pitch coating process also assists in increasing the density of the anode material as measured by the tap density – a higher density assists in storing more electrical energy in the lithium-ion battery.

Eagar attributes the quality of the material to the highly weathered Kasiya orebody, which contains high-purity natural flake graphite that has near perfect crystallinity and very low levels of sulphur and other impurities.

Sovereign is conducting further optimisation testwork using additional concentrate at a pilot-scale facility in South Africa, which will form the basis for ongoing and future discussions with potential offtakers.

China imposed trade restrictions on graphite in December last year, which required producers to apply to the government for permits to export high-grade graphite materials and related products.

Given China’s dominance of natural graphite and graphite-derived products such as CSPG, global electric vehicle (EV) production and net-zero ambitions could be negatively impacted given the lack of anode industry development outside of China.

In May this year, the US government imposed a new 25% tariff on natural graphite from China, as part of a broader initiative that included an increase of tariffs on EVs and lithium-ion batteries.

Therefore, high-performance CSPG materials manufactured from the Kasiya project present an opportunity for a supply chain of battery anode material outside of China.

“Combining these excellent results with one of the largest graphite resources globally, industry low operating costs and lowest global warming potential, Kasiya is presenting significant advantages over its graphite peers.

“We look forward to further testwork and market updates as we continue to develop Kasiya as a supplier of premium quality, cost competitive natural graphite concentrate,” Eager states.