Pilot to commence in November
Planned production of over 10 metric tonnes
of branded battery graphite products by the end of Q1 2021
Westwater Resources, Inc. (“Westwater”) (Nasdaq: WWR), an
energy materials development company, today announced that it has
taken delivery of 30 metric tonnes of natural flake graphite
concentrate at Dorfner Anzaplan’s facility in Hirschau, Germany,
purchased under the Company’s long-term graphite purchase
agreement. This material will be utilized in the pilot plant
currently being constructed at Dorfner Anzaplan’s facilities near
Amberg, Germany, as well as at facilities in Frankfort, Germany,
Chicago, Illinois and Buffalo, New York. This combined effort is
expected to produce a total of more than 10 metric tonnes of three
trademarked battery graphite products: ULTRA-PMG™, ULTRA-CSPG™ and
ULTRA-DEXDG™.
Christopher M. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Westwater, said, “This pilot plant is unique in several aspects. We
are utilizing several years of accumulated science and engineering
technical data to produce battery products through an
environmentally sensitive process for testing by our prospective
customers. This pilot will produce high quality and
high-performance battery graphite products that will be consistent
with our full-scale production facility.”
Purification, the first step in preparing battery graphite
concentrate, will take place in Germany at locations under the
direct supervision of Dorfner Anzaplan. The purified product will
then be sized and, in the case of CSPG, spheronized at a nearby
facility. The largest size fractions will be sent to a lab in
Chicago for DEXDG production, while a partially purified fraction
will be sent to Buffalo, NY for high temperature furnace
testing.
As part of the pilot program, Westwater will measure all inputs,
such as energy and reagents, as well as all outputs, to ensure
these high-performance battery graphite products are manufactured
in a way that doesn’t cause harm to the Company’s employees, to the
communities in which it works and in the surrounding environment.
These measurements will be used in the Bankable Feasibility Study
to be completed by mid-year 2021; this study will include plans for
the final design of the commercial production facility and is
expected to be the basis for the construction of the facility from
mid-2021 through 2022. Plant commissioning is expected in Q4 2022.
Westwater’s pilot plant battery graphite products will be tested
for performance at labs in Germany and the United States.
“The Coosa Graphite Project is perfectly timed to take advantage
of the advances in the electrification of our transportation system
and grid electricity storage for renewable energy here in the
United States and the rest of the world,” Mr. Jones added. “These
systems need graphite as a critical ingredient. Our development
plan puts battery graphite in the marketplace and accelerates
Westwater’s path to cash flow. We are getting our foot in the door
early.”
Graphite Purification Patent
Application
Westwater has applied for a Provisional Patent with the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office for its proprietary graphite
purification technology. This proprietary process, which does not
utilize hydrofluoric acid, is a purification methodology with a
more sustainable footprint than those currently used in China and
elsewhere. This purification process is an integral component of
the Company’s pilot plant program, which was announced on August
20, 2020.
The invention claimed in the provisional patent application
relates to a method of obtaining highly purified graphite – having
a graphitic carbon (Cg) grade of at least 99.95% – from a natural
flake graphite concentrate sample. The method comprises three
steps:
(1) caustic roasting of the graphite concentrate sample; (2)
acid leaching of the roasted sample; and (3) thermal treatment of
the sample.
Additional steps involving water washing and drying are included
in some methods. The methods provided in the application may
further include any combination of varying the weight percentage of
the caustic solution, varying the temperature of and time for the
caustic roasting, varying the temperature of and time for the acid
leaching, and/or varying the temperature of, time for, and the
atmosphere used in the thermal treatment.
Westwater will provide updates on this exciting project over the
coming weeks and months.
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. Commencement of the pilot plant
operations is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2020, producing
ULTRA-PMG™, ULTRA-DEXDG™ and ULTRA-CSPG™ 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 and eventual commercial production
facility; future production of battery grade graphite, including
the timing and quantity of battery graphite products to be produced
from the graphite concentrate delivered to the Company; the timing
and contents of a Bankable Feasibility Study; the Company’s
anticipated intellectual property rights; 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
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, 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 vanadium industry, the uranium industry,
and the power industry, and government support for domestic uranium
production and nuclear power; (g) world-wide graphite, 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, and New Mexico; (j) the ability of the
Company to enter into and successfully close acquisitions or other
material transactions, including the proposed transaction with
enCore; (k) any graphite, vanadium or uranium discoveries not being
in high-enough concentration to make it economic to extract the
minerals; (l) currently pending or new litigation or arbitration;
and (m) 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.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201009005061/en/
Westwater Resources Contacts: Christopher M. Jones,
President & CEO Phone: 303.531.0480 Jeff Vigil, VP Finance
& CFO Phone: 303.531.0481 Email: Info@WestwaterResources.net
Product Sales Contact: Jay Wago, Vice President – Sales and
Marketing Phone: 303.531.0472 Email: Sales@WestwaterResources.net
Investor Relations Contact: Porter, LeVay & Rose Michael
Porter Phone: 212.564.4700 Email: Westwater@plrinvest.com
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