French minerals company Imerys Graphite & Carbon has moved into Nambia after signing a joint venture to produce natural graphite.
Imerys and Gecko Namibia formed a JV to develop the Namibian Otjiwarongo site as graphite becomes increasingly sought after for use in lithium-ion anodes.
Production is set to begin in early 2017, with product sampling already available.
It forms a core part of Imerys’ growth strategy as the natural graphite demand is expected to increase from 80,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) in 2015 to at least 250,000 tpa by the end of 2020.
Imerys claim the new site’s large flake content (+50 and +80 mesh) is comparable to its existing site Lac-Des-Îles site in Canada.
Hugues Jacquemin, vice president & general manager of Imerys Graphite & Carbon, said: “This industry is growing. We are already a well-established player and we are expanding quickly, organically and by acquisition. This JV helps us better serve customers with the objective to increase our market share.”
The JV has purchased a former Solvay Fluorspar processing plant on site, which has been retrofitted to process graphite.