EcoGraf Limited: Corporate Presentation

Corporate Presentation

Diversified battery anode materials company EcoGraf Limited (EcoGraf or the Company) (ASX: EGR; FSE:FMK; OTCQX: ECGFF) is pleased to release a copy of the latest corporate presentation which is preceded by a letter from the Managing Director.

Dear Fellow Shareholders

Over the last few months the Company has made significant progress to advance our vertically integrated HFfree Battery Anode Materials (BAM) business to provide an alternative supply to major battery markets in the EU, North America and Asia.

In May, we signed a Cooperation Agreement with industrial company, POSCO International Corporation. POSCO wishes to secure reliable BAM for its end consumer, POSCO FUTURE M, a global leading manufacturer of natural graphite anodes for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. The Cooperation Agreement recognises the demand for EcoGraf’s BAM with discussions in progress with POSCO and other battery market participants regarding long-term supply agreements.

The signing of the agreement with POSCO is a significant endorsement of the Company’s progress and another positive step towards the successful development of Epanko, where the recently completed a Pre-Development Program which delivered a 22% increase in planned initial production to 73,000tpa and an attractive pre-tax ungeared NPV₁₀ of US$348m (A$511m).[1]  There is growing recognition within the battery market of a looming natural graphite shortfall and in response, our team is evaluating options for a multi-stage expansion of Epanko, targeting circa 300,000tpa of production.

It was pleasing to announce the ‘Notice of Allowance’ received from the US Patent and Trademark Office last month. The US Patent provides protection for our processing technology which has significant strategic value, as any products made (outside of the US) by a patented process (patented in the US), would be an infringement when imported into the US.  We have also lodged Patent submissions in all key battery markets, including the EU, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, East Africa, South Africa and Australia.

Supporting the positive outlook for the Company’s graphite project developments are the recent announcements by the EU Commission and the US Government on policies and legislation to support new battery mineral supply chains.  The biggest impact arises from release of US Department of Treasury IRA guidance in March on new clean vehicle EV tax credit criteria that will shape future critical mineral supply chains into the US.

These new policies provide opportunities for EcoGraf to supply products for the high growth North American and European battery markets much sooner than previously expected but require a greater focus on ensuring qualifying supply chains for these regions. As a result of these positive developments, anode and battery manufacturers are accelerating plans to establish additional capacity to comply with this legislation and in turn EcoGraf is adapting is development strategy to support their demand requirements.

This resulted in a change to our plans for the initial 5,000tpa commercial demonstration BAM Facility in Western Australia, replacing it with a Product Qualification Facility which is expected to be commissioned early next year, while partnering discussions continue under the new legislation with prospective customers on development of a 20-25,000tpa commercial scale BAM Facility.

We’ve been fortunate to attract on-going support from both State and Commonwealth Governments to facilitate commercialisation of our HFfree purification processing technology, which positions us strongly for the next phase of development. In May this year we were awarded a $2.9m Commonwealth Government grant under the Critical Minerals Development Program for our Product Qualification Facility and have conditional approval from Export Finance Australia for an expansion loan of up to US$40m for our proposed commercial scale Western Australian BAM Facility.

As part of optimising our graphite supply chain to support both industrial and battery markets, we believe there are benefits to undertaking mechanical shaping within an Export Processing Zone in Tanzania and our team is currently completing an evaluation of potential locations.  Independent Life Cycle Assessment studies confirm there is a ~20% reduction in CO₂ emissions during the shaping process by using Tanzania’s cost-competitive hydro-energy and the country’s location provides an efficient logistics export-hub for global graphite markets.

There are very few companies who are evaluating anode recycling, and we are excited by the results achieved.  We look forward to advancing this activity as recent results provide significant evidence that anode materials can be recycled which has the impact to lower the cost and reduce the carbon footprint of battery manufacturing.

The next few months will be a period of significant activity for our Company and on behalf of the board and our management team, we are looking forward to realising the significant value of our vertically integrated HFfree BAM business.

Following this letter, is our latest corporate presentation summarising key aspects of our business.

The future remains electric!

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Spinks
Managing Director
EcoGraf Limited

This announcement is authorised for release by the Board of Directors.

For further information, please contact:

INVESTORS 

Andrew Spinks  

Managing Director 

T: +61 8 6424 9002 

About EcoGraf

EcoGraf is building a vertically integrated battery anode materials business to produce high purity graphite products for the lithium-ion battery and advanced manufacturing markets. Over US$30 million has been invested to date to create a highly attractive graphite mining and mineral processing business.

In Tanzania, the Company is developing the TanzGraphite natural flake graphite business, commencing with the Epanko Graphite Project, to provide a long-term, scalable supply of feedstock for EcoGraf™ battery anode material processing facilities, together with high quality large flake graphite products for specialised industrial applications.

Using its environmentally superior EcoGraf HFfree™ purification technology, the Company will upgrade the flake graphite to produce 99.95%C high performance battery anode material to supply electric vehicle, battery and anode manufacturers in Asia, Europe and North America as the world transitions to clean, renewable energy. 

Battery recycling is critical to improving supply chain sustainability and the Company’s successful application of the EcoGraf™ purification process to recycle battery anode material provides it with a unique ability to support customers to reduce CO₂ emissions and lower battery costs.

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^[1] ASX announcement dated 28 April 2023