BAM is a key ingredient in lithium batteries and Evion Group (ASX:EVG) has entered into a collaborative agreement with leading BAM developer, Urbix Inc, to assess the viability of developing a plant to provide BAM for the EV and alternative energy sectors in Europe.
EVG says the “outstanding results” from the latest purification test work, conducted by Dorfner Anzaplan, are a key part in establishing the plant.
These tests were conducted on 15kg of flake graphite concentrate material from Evion’s Maniry project in Madagascar.
The company plans to establish a world-scale mine at the site where a definitive feasibility study was completed last year.
“These results show we are all well on track to realise our goal of establishing a world-class mine at Maniry, which will feed a BAM plant in Europe,” EVG managing director Tom Revy says.
“With the graphite price widely forecast to rise sharply as the market falls into deficit later this year, Evion is ideally placed to unlock the huge value of its assets by implementing this strategy.”
Using two process routes, the tests delivered fixed carbon content of more than 99.95wt-%, the ideal level of graphite purity.
Importantly, the results show there is potential to reduce operating costs by up to 30% using the caustic pressure leach process largely through reduced power consumption.
Under the collaborative agreement with Urbix, the results will be discussed as part of the joint prefeasibility to determine the viability of developing a BAM plant.
