Volt Resources Ltd (ASX:VRC, OTC:VLTRF) subsidiary Zavalievsky Graphite (ZG), which has one of only a few graphite projects included in around 50 investment cases to meet European demand for critical and strategic materials, has been identified as a strategic asset by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) and the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA).
ZG has successfully completed its first production campaign for 2023, producing 1,015 tonnes of graphite concentrate achieving average daily production of 52 tonnes, and is now preparing for its second production campaign.
The EIT and ERMA see ZG as a strategic asset in its aim to deliver innovation across Europe and to increase Europe’s strategic autonomy in the production of critical materials for energy storage and conversion.
With the realisation that Europe has limited primary production of these assets, ZG could become a crucial supplier of critical materials in the overall value chain.
Raw materials projects Identified in ERMA Investment Pipeline.
“We want to commend EIT and ERMA’s decision to recognize ZG as a strategic asset for Europe," VRC CEO Prashant Chintawar said. "ZG is a proven asset and a source of graphite for our planned European natural graphite anode plant.
"The combination of government policies, need for a localised battery supply chain and demand vs supply gap for graphite anode makes Europe an attractive market opportunity for Volt.”
Strong recognition for ZG
EIT and ERMA’s recognition of ZG as a strategic asset could open new business development opportunities for Volt in Europe as total graphite demand in Europe is expected to be about 1.5 million tonnes per annum by 2030.
European supply, including from the ZG mine, is expected to total about 300,000 tonnes per annum.
There is significant potential for Volt’s Bunyu Graphite Project in Tanzania to be a future source of graphite supply to meet this forecast European demand.
Global and EU demand and production data for 2020 are compared with forecasted global and EU demand data for 2030 for graphite.
First production completed
ZG already has a supply head start having restarted operations in April this year after the winter shutdown.
Following the restart the ZG team successfully completed the first production campaign and produced 1,015 tonnes of graphite at an average production rate of 52 tonnes per day excluding partial production days at commencement and completion of the campaign.
As noted, a second campaign is now being planned.