Ann: German Research Confirms Recycled Graphite Performance, page-38

Agree totally, the West was always going to have play catch-up to China but, despite its seemingly slow progress, IMO, the West is making in-roads. Not only that, China is now experiencing supplies issues with the ceasing of BAM production at one of their major manufacturers. They cannot get enough graphite either. But the red tape here is our biggest issue.

I don't know if my views add much to what has already been addressed recently on the forum, but here they are:-

Re the need for graphite mines and the raw material... I don't think it trumps the need for BAM facilities (yet). OEMs need SPG and/or CSPG. And, yes, graphite concentrate is needed for that production. There aren't that many BAM producers outside of China. There a lot of graphite projects aiming to come online in 2024. The output target that EGR is aiming for won't be requirng a hell of a lot of feedstock. We are talking about 15,000 tpa and that won't be required til commissioning starts. When that will be... at the earliest (if built in parallel to the pilot plant) is not likely til 2024.

Re battery recyling... well, lets face it... the physical demand won't start until the batteries in EVs are supposedly at least 10 yrs old and need replacing. So, lets not get ahead of ourselves on that front (yet). The demand for planning, designing and testing is here now... and that's where EGR is at... now.

Re the value of constructing our BAM facility here in Perth... I don't know why that is even being questioned. BHP is now producing and shipping nickel to Japan from its facility in Kwinana. Tianqi is product testing lithium now from its facility in Kwinana. So, why wouldn't EGR's plan to build here in Kwinana no longer be feasible? Shipping costs have dramatically dropped lately. We have an array of potential Asian customers on our doorstep. I reckon the downies want the SP to remain low for as long as possible.