Australia’s Syrah Resources has signed a deal to provide a Chinese lithium battery materials supplier with 30,000 tonnes of graphite in the first year of production at its Balama mine in Mozambique.
Syrah said the agreement is with Jixi BTR Graphite Industrial, which supplies battery materials for lithium-ion products used in electric vehicles and the energy storage sector.
Jixi BTR is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shenzhen BTR New Energy Materials (BTR), which describes itself as “the world’s largest” manufacturer and technology developer of lithium-ion battery anode materials.
According to Syrah, BTR is expanding its production capacity and will soon commission a new manufacturing plant in Jiangsu Province.
The Balama project, which is nearing completion, will offer “baseload natural graphite supply for major battery anode manufacturers globally”, according to Syrah’s CEO and managing director Shaun Verner.
Balama is forecast to produce 350,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate annually, making it the “largest producer of graphite globally”, Syrah said.
