Black Rock Mining's (ASX:BKT) battery test works continue to deliver industry leading results.
Ongoing U.S. accredited laboratory test work of the company's Mahenge Graphite Project 99.95+wt% graphite concentrate continues to deliver industry leading battery test results.
Steve Tambanis, managing director, commented:
"These results continue to demonstrate the industry leading product attributes of Black Rock´s Mahenge Graphite Project.
"The results demonstrate our graphite could deliver battery manufacturers with more stable lithium-ion batteries at a lower cost as well as a superior cycle life.
"They are also very important in enabling our ongoing discussions with potential partners that are critical for the success of the project."
Key test outcomes
- Uncoated graphite flakes producing a near perfect lithium-ion battery reversible capacity of 371.28 mAh/g out of a theoretically possible 372 mAh/g for natural graphite flakes;
- Uncoated and coated spherical graphite in battery cells designed for long-term cycling demonstrated excellent performance characteristics with reversible capacities of 368.94 Ah/g and 354.26 mAh/g respectively;
- Uncoated and coated spherical graphite delivered exceptionally low BET (Brunauer, Emmett and Teller) surface area values of 4.15 m2/g and 0.82 m2/g respectively, considered very suitable for high energy lithium-ion batteries;
- Uncoated and coated irreversible capacity loss (ICL) values of 8.35% and 5.61% respectively which are regarded as exceptional for natural flake graphite, having the potential to lower cell cost and increase cell cycle life; and
- Long term cycling of uncoated and coated graphite showing virtually no change in battery performance with 25 cycles completed to date of a 100+ cycle period.
Analysis
The test results suggest Mahenge Graphite Project graphite has the potential to enable battery manufacturers to produce more stable lithium-ion batteries at a lower cost with a longer cycle life.
Therefore the potential to displace synthetic graphite in lithium-ion batteries once performance, cost advantages and the ability to consistently supply spherical graphite for long term production can be demonstrated.
Continued results like todays will drive ongoing discussions with potential partners.