I was just comparing RNU's recent SpG results against EGR's and I noticed that the caustic roast purification process that they used achieved inferior results to those achieved using the EcoGraf purification process. I have illustrated below where RNU's results are inferior to those produced using the EcoGraf process and I have also highlighted a couple of areas of potential concern, namely tap density and calcium levels.
As you can see, the impurities in RNU's Siviours PSG exceed those from spherical graphite purified using the EcoGraf process, the only exception being the aluminium levels which you will note are below the product specifications anyway. The calcium levels in Siviour's PSG exceed the product specifications by batter anode manufacturers, albeit only by a small amount. (Only after producing the above illustration I noticed that Siviour's PSG also doesn't meet the moisture specification of <0.2% - their moisture level is 0.04% which is double the acceptable level.)
Christoph Frey is a graphite guru, my guess is that he has suggested to RNU that they purify Siviour graphite to see if they can improve the chemical properties of Sivour's PSG product. It'll be interesting to see if Siviour graphite is purified using the EcoGraf process and what the results are.
EGR doesn't need to source Australian graphite in order for the Kwinana plant to proceed, however, RNU may need a superior purification to bring their product up to the specification of one of their competitor's. As a holder of both EGR and RNU I am very interested to see what happens here.
(20min delay)