Gratomic Inc. (TSX-V:GRAT, OTCQX:CBULF) told investors its commercial partnership and sales agreement with TM2 Verticals to supply purified flake graphite to the alkaline battery sector has been updated.
The company said that the binding offtake contract has been extended by 210 days to allow additional time for advanced testing and to secure binding agreements with global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
The five-year contract establishes annual delivery quantities starting at 4,200 tons per year, reaching 7,260 tons per year.
Gratomic highlighted that in partnership with TM2, it has successfully upgraded the Aukam graphite concentrate to the required 96% grade for their large-scale pilot plant OEM qualification program to generate bulk samples to send to global alkaline battery producers.
Gratomic's stockpiled graphite was tested and processed, achieving 96.8% and 97.1% grade concentrate across multiple tests with an average recovery of 80% plus, an important milestone for the company.
The material will be converted into purified flake graphite and supplied to an OEM for Phase 1 battery performance testing.
Then, Gratomic and TM2 will enter Phase 2 testing which will include supplying more concentrate from the mine in Namibia to produce 1 million battery cell units as the final stage of qualification with the OEM.
Once the supply chain and purified flake graphite have been qualified, the OEM will enter into a direct purchase agreement.
Per the terms of the partnership, Gratomic will receive a 50% split of the profit after toll processing.
"The partnership with TM2 is steadily advancing towards our common objectives of being ahead of competition in one of the most dynamic high-value applications for graphite,” Gratomic CEO Arno Brand said in a statement.
TM2 CEO Petur Georgesson noted that the alkaline battery market represents a huge opportunity with estimated annual sales of $8 billion-plus, comprising of 12 billion plus battery cells sold requiring more than 14,000 tons of graphite material.
“By building globally integrated and connected markets, TM2 together with Gratomic will be able to take a piece of this market and positively enhance disrupted alkaline battery supply chains together,” Georgesson said.
Gratomic is a multinational company with projects in Namibia, Brazil, and Canada. The company is focused on becoming a leading global graphite supplier and aims to secure a strong position in the EV battery supply chain.
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