TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Two independent third parties have successfully manufactured spherical graphite from project developer Energizer Resources’ Molo flake graphite concentrate, with initial test results indicating that it has met all specifications and quality requirements for battery anode material production.

Based on these results, both parties had confirmed that Energizer now qualified to move to the next stage in product analysis, which would include further bulk-sample testing stages down each of the company's respective customer supply chains.

Energizer was currently negotiating expected timelines and logistics regarding these additional stages with each party, including discussions on potential offtake agreements.

The purpose of these tests was to determine the potential for the Madagascar-based deposit to be an alternative and sustainable natural source of spherical graphite concentrate for the purpose of supplying battery anode material for the burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) market.

Without disclosing which companies conducted the tests, Energizer noted that they included a prominent Japanese manufacturer of battery anode material and a top European supplier of spherical graphite for EVs.

"We are pleased to have highly reputable, third-party validation that our Molo concentrate can be manufactured into high-quality spherical graphite for electrical vehicles. This positions Energizer well for this burgeoning market,” noted Energizer president and CEO Craig Scherba, who was appointed CEO late last month.

Testing in both instances consisted of two separate 20 kg samples of Molo concentrate, ranging from -200 mesh (small and fine flake) to +32 mesh (extra large and jumbo flake), being purified with standard methods and spherically cut to specifications for lithium-ion batteries used by a significant automotive brand.

The testers had confirmed to Energizer that the Molo concentrate showed “very good” potential compared with their respective current suppliers.

The global graphite market was heating up in the wake of increased technological applications for the carbon allotrope, including US automobile maker Tesla’s construction of its upcoming GigaFactory battery plant, in Nevada, which was expected to double world graphite demand by 2022.

The company was positioning itself to supply raw materials into EV supply chains, saying it was confident that EVs would not be a niche market.

Deutsche Bank had recently predicted that EVs were at the tipping point and would bring an "unprecedented technology change to the [automotive] sector by 2020". Deutsche Bank further predicted that EVs would reach price parity with diesel cars within five years and parity with gasoline cars by the early 2020s.