TSX-listed NextSource Materials will collaborate with Japanese and Chinese partners on the building of a value-add battery anode plant in a jurisdiction that is proximal to the company’s Molo graphite project, in Madagascar.

NextSource did not name the Japanese trading company or Chinese processor of graphite anode material in its news release announcing the letter of intent (LoI).

“The execution of this LoI is part of NextSource’s downstream growth plan and brings together one of the best global processors of graphite anode material and one of the most prominent suppliers of graphite anode material to automotive original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) globally.

“This letter of agreement to partnership on a SPG plant with such established partners positions NextSource to be a significant and dominant future supplier of high-quality flake graphite to major battery anode customers globally and simultaneously gaining an immediate foothold into the high-growth markets for EVs, as well as the burgeoning energy storage market that will be reliant on graphite anode material,” says NextSource president and CEO Craig Scherba.

The company in 2018 signed a ten-year offtake agreement with a Japanese trading company to purchase 20 000 t/y of Molo SuperFlake graphite for use in battery anode applications for electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV).

NextSource has been in discussions with the Japanese partner for some time regarding potential supply chain collaboration to supply value-added graphite material using SuperFlake graphite concentrate.

The pair has brought on board a Chinese partner, which has verified that the SuperFlake graphite concentrate meets, or exceeds, all quality requirements for spheronised and purified graphite (SPG) material for EV and HEV automotive applications.

NextSource explains that the Chinese company’s EV and HEV anode customers are global, including the North American market and its interest in the partnership with NextSource and its Japanese partner is to have an additional SPG facility located outside China and close to a high-quality mine source of flake graphite to supply international automotive OEM customers.

Phase 1 of the Molo project will consist of a fully operational and sustainable graphite mine with a permanent processing plant capable of processing 240 000 t/y of ore and producing about 17 000 t/y of high-quality SuperFlake graphite concentrate.

Phase 2 incorporates the processing of 240 000 t/y of ore for the first two years of operation and then ramping up to 720 000 t/y of processed ore in the third year to accommodate additional sales, resulting in a total of 45 000 t/y of SuperFlake concentrate being produced for a mine life of 30 years.