International Graphite permitted to start building Australia’s first graphite micronising facility
Earthworks and civil construction will soon start at Australia's first commercial graphite micronising operation, confirms project developer ASX-listed International Graphite.
The company received a building permit from the Shire of Collie on Thursday, allowing earthworks and civil construction to start at the Collie Micronising Facility, in Western Australia.
The Western Australian government has committed a $4.5-million grant to the project from its Collie Industrial Transition Fund, with the building permit now allowing International Graphite to make the next drawdown of grant funds.
The $8-million micronising facility will achieve mechanical completion in the second quarter of next year.
International Graphite confirms that as Collie progresses toward production, customer engagement has expanded with strong interest from Australian and north Asian customers, including trading groups, who seek new supply sources for graphite products.
Graphite micronising is the precision mechanical milling process of reducing raw graphite flakes to ultra-fine powders, typically between 10 and 45 microns in size. It is a vital downstream refining step used to create advanced conductive materials for lithium-ion battery anodes, specialty lubricants, and high-performance polymers.