Sovereign Metals Ltd (ASX:SVM, AIM:SVML) predicts the production cost of flake graphite co-product from its Kasiya rutile operation will require some of the lowest expenditure in the global market, estimated at US$352 per tonne in operating costs.
The company believes it’s positioned to potentially dominate the market, given the potential production scale for a coarse flake, high purity and highly crystalline product from the project, which may be suitable for lithium-ion batteries and wider traditional industrial uses.
The flake size distribution of Kasiya’s graphite product is considered to compare favourably to industry peers by the company, suggesting it may garner a high graphite basket price.
An updated scoping study for Kasiya is on track, due to be completed shortly.
SVM will “compete aggressively on price point”
“Not only is Kasiya the world’s largest rutile deposit and one of the largest flake-graphite resources, but our latest graphite industry benchmarking also demonstrates the potential for Kasiya to be a globally dominant supplier and low-cost flake graphite producer at scale,” Sovereign Metals managing director Dr Julian Stephens said.
“Importantly, the very low graphite production costs at Kasiya should allow Sovereign to compete aggressively on price point across global graphite markets.”
In addition to its cost and flake-property advantages, Kasiya’s natural graphite also comes with a lower carbon footprint than either synthetic or Chinese-produced natural graphite.
Low carbon footprint
Each tonne of graphite produced from Kasiya is expected to have a Global Warming Potential of 0.2 tonnes CO2 equivalent, which represents 5x less greenhouse gas emissions compared to natural graphite produced in the Heilongjiang Province, China.
China produces more than 75% of the world’s natural graphite, and almost 80% of the world’s synthetic graphite – the nation also corners the market on battery anode graphite material, producing 100% of natural graphite anodes for lithium-ion batteries.
A recent study in the Journal of Industrial Ecology estimated the global warming potential of synthetic graphite to be 20.6 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, some 103x that estimated for Kasiya’s natural graphite.