TIDMTGR
RNS Number : 7618P
Tirupati Graphite PLC
22 February 2021
22 February 2021
Tirupati Graphite plc ('Tirupati' or the 'Company')
Successful Trials of Battery Grade Spherical Graphite
Tirupati Graphite plc, the fully integrated, revenue generating,
specialist graphite producer and graphene developer with operations
in Madagascar and India, is pleased to announce that it has
successfully completed trials and tests for the manufacture of
battery grade spherical graphite ('SPG'), used in the anode of
lithium-ion batteries ('LiB'), in tandem with a globally recognised
German manufacturer of spheroidisation and micronisation equipment,
achieving significant results in the end SPG product.
Overview
-- Outstanding results generated from a series of trials and
tests for manufacturing LiB grade SPG with a leading German
manufacturer of spheroidisation and micronisation equipment;
o Tirupati's Madagascar flake graphite purified to >99.95%C
using its proprietary, zero-hydrofluoric acid,
non-pyrometallurgical, zero-waste purification technology used as
input material;
o Yield of up to 68.4% and average of 45.8% spherical graphite
from feedstock, compares favourably to generally reported yield of
standard Chinese equipment and technology of c.35%;
o Tapped density of up to 962 grams/litre ('g/l') and average of
933g/l, falling in the higher level of the required range by
industrial buyers of battery grade SPG.
-- Commissioned development and optimisation for the first in a
series of commercial scale 3,000tpa SPG manufacturing plants with
German specialist and initiated discussions with prospective buyers
of SPG including automobile majors, battery and anode
manufacturers.
-- Fast-evolving growth in the global electric vehicle ('EV')
sector prompts the Company to fast track the establishment of its
first SPG capacity ahead of the current July 2022 target.
-- Well positioned to capitalise upon being an eco-friendly
ex-China source of SPG, 100% of which is currently supplied by
China.
-- The Company believes its unique green technologies in all
areas of operations provide a competitive edge on the developing
green supply chain for EVs.
-- Countries globally launching packages for faster EV adoption
and supply chain development due to increasing growth of EV
adaptation.
Shishir Poddar, Executive Chairman & CEO of Tirupati
Graphite, said, " With EV markets evolving faster than ever before
and an increased focus on reducing emissions from mobility, coupled
with the daily evolving geo-political situations, it is an
extremely important and opportune time for us to concentrate our
efforts in fast tracking the development of commercial capacities
for spherical graphite manufacturing. Our green credentials with
zero-waste purification technology give us the ability to
manufacture and supply our SPG products to EV makers as a preferred
source, and we are very well positioned to benefit as an
eco-friendly ex-China source of this critical material.
"Global leaders are driving the exponential growth worldwide in
EV adoption in order to achieve targets under the Paris Agreement,
amongst other accords. While the United Kingdom has launched a
green industrial revolution; the US government's vehicle fleet is
expected to be replaced by EVs assembled in the US, an initiative
led by President Joe Biden. Change is also afoot in the Netherlands
where significant purchase subsidies brought in earlier this year
are forecast to multiply sales in 2021, with December 2020
achieving the country's largest number of EV sales to date. India
is advancing its plan to achieve an 100% shift to EVs by 2030
alongside many other countries. The impact is now visible in
increasing EV sales worldwide.
"We feel privileged to contribute to the global rally for
electric mobility and we are excited to be able to expedite our SGP
developments in order to meet increasing demand, and in doing so,
we are well positioned to take advantage of the EV boom. I look
forward to updating our shareholders as we evolve further, working
to become a frontrunner in the global SPG market for batteries and
EVs."
Details
The Company has been working in partnership with a world
recognised German manufacturer of micronisation and spheroidisation
equipment, to develop commercial scale equipment to manufacture
SPG. Using flake graphite produced at its primary Madagascar
operations and further purified in India to >99.95% utilising
the Company's novel zero-hydrofluoric acid non-pyrometallurgical
zero-waste eco-friendly purification technology for the
development, a series of tests and optimisations were successfully
completed resulting in the development of a three-step
manufacturing process of battery-grade spherical graphite.
Significant achievements in the trials included:
-- a yield of up to 68.4% and average of 45.8% spherical
graphite from feedstock, which compares with generally reported
about 35% yield using Chinese equipment, and;
-- tapped density of up to 962g/l and average of 933g/l which is
in the higher side of the required range.
Figure 1: Images from characterisation of the SPG manufactured
in trials.
To view the announcement with images, please use the following
link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7618P_1-2021-2-19.pdf
The Company has commissioned the development of the first in a
series of 3,000tpa commercial scale SPG production plants with a
target to maximise yield percentage and tapped density at the
higher end of the results achieved in trials. The development
process will generate bulk samples, which will be provided to
potential customers for critical qualification steps to become a
supplier. Notably, the Company is already in discussions with
prospective buyers including auto majors expediting their EV
roll-out strategies. With automakers focussing on developing green
supply chains for electric vehicles, Tirupati is well positioned to
be a preferred supplier for SPG accredited to its sustainable and
green in-house developed technologies in each area of the
business.
Currently, 100% of SPG for lithium-ion batteries is manufactured
in China using micronisation and spheroidisation equipment trains
of Chinese origin, a process that has circa 14 steps. Increasing
awareness from global governments to fund and promote supply chain
development outside China and to reduce dependence on China for
critical materials provides Tirupati with extensive opportunities
to place itself as an ex-China source with eco-friendly
technologies.
In line with the fast-evolving growth in the EV sector, the
Company is expediting and enhancing its planned development of SPG
production. Under Tirupati's current modular medium term
development plan, the first commercial production for SPG is
targeting July 2022, which the company intends to fast track to an
earlier date of Q4 2021. Recent reports by IHS Markit demonstrate
that by 2025 global sales of lithium battery EVs will top 12.2
million units, indicating annual growth of nearly 52% (compounded)
and prediction that sales will rise by 70% in 2021. German car
maker Volkswagen achieved the highest overall European EV market
share in 2020 of 17.4%, up 609% year on year, followed by
Mercedes-Benz with a share of 14.0%, up 500% year on year.
Moreover, reports from S&P Global Platts analyse the UK
government's promise in November 2020 of GBP12bn of investment into
a range of decarbonisation initiatives, which will also bring
forward the ban on new internal combustion engines by 10 years to
2030. More recently, Jaguar Land Rover announced that their Jaguar
brand will be all-electric by 2025 and Ford announced its passenger
vehicle range will be all electric by 2030.
Some reports can be found here:
https://www.spglobal.com/en/
https://ihsmarkit.com/index.html
https://www.ev-volumes.com/
**S **
For further information, please visit
https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/ or contact:
Tirupati Graphite Plc
Puruvi Poddar +44 (0) 20 3984 9894
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker)
Daniel Ingram +44 (0) 20 3137 1902
---------------------
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR)
Isabel de Salis / Cosima Akerman +44 (0) 20 236 1177
---------------------
Notes
Tirupati Graphite Plc is a revenue-generative, multi-asset,
multi-jurisdictional, fully integrated producer and developer of
high-grade natural flake graphite, speciality graphite and
graphene, which captures the entire value chain. With a unique set
of properties, graphite has diverse applications with multiple
growth streams and graphene forms the new generation of 2D
materials. In support of this, the Company places a special
emphasis on "green" applications, including renewable energy
generation, energy storage and composites, and is committed to
ensuring its operations are sustainable as well.
The Company's operations include primary mining and processing
in Madagascar, where the Company operates two key projects,
Sahamamy and Vatomina; 3,000 tpa of high-quality flake graphite
concentrate with up to 96% purity is currently being produced and
sold to customers globally, and this is planned to increase to
84,000 tpa by 2024 as per the Company's modular medium-term
development plan.
In India, through Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited
('TSG'), with whom the Company has a binding acquisition agreement
subject to regulatory approvals, Tirupati processes and produces
speciality graphite for use in hi-tech applications like
lithium-ion batteries, fire retardants and composites. Its
specialty graphite processing operations include the 1,200 tpa
Patalganga Project, which was commissioned in July 2019 to
manufacture and sell CARBOFLAMEX(R), a trademarked fire-retardant
expandable graphite product. At the next stage of development,
Patalganga shall further be expanded to 4,800 tpa capacity with
capabilities to also produce high purity and micronised graphite,
so increasing market and product reach by 2021. TSG has developed
unique green processing technologies for manufacturing these
advanced materials.
After establishing itself in the specialty graphite markets
through the Patalganga Project, an additional 24,000 tpa specialty
graphite processing facility is to be established in two 12,000 tpa
phases. The plant will produce expandable, high purity, micronised
and spherical graphite. The west coast of India has been chosen as
the location and a detailed feasibility study has been completed.
TSG is also in the process of establishing the Tirupati Graphene
and Mintech Research Centre, a state-of-the-art R&D centre
focussed on manufacturing graphene, developing its applications,
and further providing environmentally friendly technologies
consultancy for mineral processing.
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