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Main Forum•Strategic Energy Resources - Graphite now in critical supply
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"Graphite's criticality and potential scarcity has been recognized by both the United States and the European Union, which have each declared graphite a supply-critical mineral.
Recently, the British Geological Survey ranked graphite right behind the rare earths and substantially ahead of lithium in terms of supply criticality."
Graphite mining and processing is currently limited to a small handful of countries, with China, India, Brazil and Canada the leading suppliers. Only 40% of world production yields flake graphite, the most desirable type for its suitability in high-value, high-growth applications. Only flake and synthetic graphite, which is made from petroleum coke through a very expensive process, can be used in lithium-ion batteries, the current demand driver for this crucial substance. Read moreThe snippets above are from one of a spate of Graphite related articles no doubt sparked by the approaching graphite supply crunch.
So does Australia have graphite?
The answer is yes we have three ASX listed companies with a graphite resource and today I bought one.
It is a very small by market cap ($47m) ASX listed company with a world class large flake graphite deposit that is in South Australia, 50kms from a port. And it appears to be right on the verge of making a giant leap forward.
No graphite = no modern Lithium batteries. -
This seems comical ... really!!!! not enough graphite.
Not enough penicillin I understand. Not enough pencils ... come on...
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Ah Alite...
This is a good article about Graphite.
"In 2010 a European Commission included graphite among the 14 materials it considered high in both economic importance and supply risk. The British Geological Survey listed graphite as one of the materials to most likely be in short supply globally. The US has also declared graphite a critical material. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department, said America could be hurt if terrorists were to disable graphite mines in China."
"The natural graphite market is 1-1.2 million tons per year and consists of several different forms of graphite – flake, amorphous and lump. Historical applications primarily use amorphous and lump graphite, most newly emerging technologies and applications use flake graphite. Of the up to 1.2 million tons of graphite that are processed each year just 40% is flake.
China, India and Canada are responsible for most graphite mining and processing with China producing the lion’s share at 70–80%. China’s production is 70% amorphous and lower value small flake graphite.Currently China imports a significant amount of North Korea’s large flake graphite production raising considerable doubts in regards to China’s abilities to ramp up its graphite supply. Indeed China has already taken steps to retain its graphite resources by restricting its export quota – China imposed a 20% export duty, a 17% VAT and also closed state owned enterprises.
“The days of cheap, abundant graphite from China are over.” Industrial Minerals Magazine May, 2011
It’s thought that the increased use of lithium-ion batteries could gobble up well over 1.6 Mt of flake graphite per year by 2020 – only flake, upgraded to 99.9% purity and synthetic graphite (made from petroleum coke, a very expensive process) can be used in lithium-ion batteries.
“Annual flake graphite production will have to increase by a factor of six by 2020 to meet incremental lithium carbonate requirements for batteries.” Canaccord research report"
Read more
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Sorry, bad joke on the pencils.
Is there a current graphite producer on the ASX?
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Considering the fact that a large-scale producer’s upper end of graphite production is 40,000 tons of flake graphite per year, and that there is an estimated additional demand of one million tons by 2020, about 25 new mines are needed by that time. With China controlling more than 70 percent of the globe’s graphite production and calling for rare earth-style quotas on its export, there will be a premium placed on graphite mines in countries that are seen as more stable and less prone to resource nationalism.
Given the above it seems pertinent to mention Australia has several companies with Graphite resources but I cannot find a "current" producer. Quite possibly SER, Magna Mining and Gold Anomaly are the nearest to doing something and it is worthwhile to read through their websites. -
Bummer
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Not if you got into them at the right time - you need to see the article by Jack Lifton (see alternative-energy.com.au forum.)
