Westwater Resources Announces Start of Pilot Plant Program for Battery Graphite
August 20 2020 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
30 metric tons of graphite concentrate has
been purchased and is being shipped to the pilot plant location in
Germany
Completion of plant expected by Year-End
2020
Westwater Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: WWR), an energy
materials development company, today announced the commencement of
its graphite pilot plant program. Westwater’s Coosa Project in
Alabama is expected to be the first U.S. domestic producer and
processor of battery graphite materials.
In November 2019, Westwater announced it had engaged Dorfner
Anzaplan of Hirschau, Germany to advance the development of
processes needed to purify graphite concentrates and to produce the
Westwater’s battery grade products: ULTRA-PMGTM, ULTRA-SPGTM and
ULTRA-DEXDGTM . Dorfner Anzaplan is an internationally recognized
and highly regarded organization that specializes in high-purity
industrial and strategic metals businesses. Dorfner Anzaplan
employs state-of-the-art analytical methods and facilities and uses
innovative processing technologies to provide effective solutions
tailored to their clients’ requirements. All testing has been
completed and, going forward, all required manufacturing equipment
has been or is being ordered; construction to build an operational
pilot plant will begin shortly.
Christopher M. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer,
said, “This is an incredible milestone for Westwater. Positive
laboratory test results over the last year has enabled the Company
to forge ahead with its plan to construct and operate a pilot plant
that will make battery graphite materials in quantity using
processes that simulate full production conditions. With the
assistance of our technology partners, including Dorfner Anzaplan,
a pilot plant will be designed and constructed in September-October
of 2020 and is on track to operate later this year with the
intention of making material available to our potential customers
in quantities and of a quality suitable for testing and
qualification. Successful completion of the pilot plant program,
and customer qualification of graphite products from the plant,
will position Westwater to begin a feasibility study that designs a
commercial-scale plant, anticipated to be complete mid-year 2021.
The commercial plant is expected to be commissioned in late 2022,
producing this critical component for today’s high-performance
battery applications. We have made graphite samples available to a
number of potential customers for testing, and these tests have
been successful. We believe our graphite materials can garner a
significant global market share as we move forward.”
Westwater is developing proprietary processes for the production
of battery grade graphite from non-Chinese sources that are
designed to manufacture high performing products while ensuring a
sustainable environmental footprint and low production costs. Test
work on the products from these processes has been performed
already in laboratories in Germany and the United States, and those
results show that the performance of the Coosa Project’s graphite
is on par with or exceeds that of currently available battery
products. The next step in Westwater’s development process is the
operation of a pilot plant that is designed to process
approximately 30-tonnes of graphite concentrate and to produce more
than ten metric tons of ULTRA-PMGTM, ULTRA-SPGTM and ULTRA-DEXDGTM
products, now scheduled for later this year and the first part of
2021.
Commitments have been received from the various vendors involved
in the project and long lead time items are in the process of being
ordered. The 30-tonnes of graphite concentrate has been purchased
and will be transported to Dorfner Anzaplan’s facility for
September delivery. The Company will provide updates on this
exciting project over the coming weeks and months. Funding for this
effort is expected to come from existing financing instruments
presently in place with Westwater.
About Westwater Resources
Westwater Resources (NASDAQ: WWR) is focused on developing
energy-related materials. The Company’s battery-materials projects
include the Coosa Graphite Project — the most advanced natural
flake graphite project in the contiguous United States — and the
associated Coosa Graphite Mine located across 41,900 acres (~17,000
hectares) in east-central Alabama. Processing pilot plant
operations are scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2020, producing
ULTRA-PMGTM, ULTRA-DEXDGTM and ULTRA-CSPGTM in quantities that
facilitate qualification testing at potential customers. For more
information, visit www.westwaterresources.net.
Cautionary Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions and are identified by words such as "expects,"
"estimates," "projects," "anticipates," "believes," "could,"
“scheduled,” and other similar words. All statements addressing
events or developments that WWR expects or anticipates will occur
in the future, including but not limited to the commencement of
operations at the pilot plant, future production of battery grade
graphite, developments at the Company’s projects, and the Company’s
liquidity and cash demands, including future capital markets
financing activities, are forward-looking statements. Because they
are forward-looking, they should be evaluated in light of important
risk factors and uncertainties. These risk factors and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, (a) the Company’s
ability to successfully construct and operate a pilot plant capable
of producing battery grade materials in quantities and on schedules
consistent with the Coosa Graphite Project business plan; (b) the
Company’s ability to raise additional capital in the future
including the ability to utilize existing financing facilities; (c)
spot price and long-term contract price of graphite, lithium,
vanadium and uranium; (d) risks associated with our operations and
the operations of our partners such as Dorfner Anzaplan, including
the impact of COVID-19 and its potential impacts to the capital
markets; (e) operating conditions at the Company’s projects; (f)
government and tribal regulation of the graphite industry, the
lithium industry, the vanadium industry, the uranium industry, and
the power industry, and government support for domestic uranium
production and nuclear power; (g) world-wide graphite, lithium,
vanadium and uranium supply and demand, including the supply and
demand for lithium-based batteries; (h) maintaining sufficient
financial assurance in the form of sufficiently collateralized
surety instruments; (i) unanticipated geological, processing,
regulatory and legal or other problems the Company may encounter in
the jurisdictions where the Company operates or intends to operate,
including in Alabama, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada; (j) the
ability of the Company to enter into and successfully close
acquisitions or other material transactions; (k) the results of the
Company’s lithium brine exploration activities at the Columbus
Basin and Sal Rica projects, and the possibility that future
exploration results may be materially less promising than initial
exploration result; (l) any graphite, lithium, vanadium or uranium
discoveries not being in high-enough concentration to make it
economic to extract the metals; (m) currently pending or new
litigation or arbitration; and (n) other factors which are more
fully described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K,
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize or should any of the Company’s
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary
materially from those currently anticipated. In addition, undue
reliance should not be placed on the Company’s forward-looking
statements. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any
obligation to update or publicly announce any revisions to any of
the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200820005279/en/
Westwater Resources Contact: Christopher M. Jones, President
& CEO Phone: 303.531.0480 Jeff Vigil, VP Finance & CFO
Phone: 303.531.0481 Email: Info@WestwaterResources.net
Investor Relations Contact: Porter, LeVay & Rose
Michael Porter Phone: 212.564.4700 Email:
Westwater@plrinvest.com
Westwater Resources (NASDAQ:WWR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Westwater Resources (NASDAQ:WWR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024