I tried to post this in response to @remlif post the other day...

I tried to post this in response to @remlif post the other day but HC wouldn't let me for some reason - https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/tlg-media.5747498/page-11325?post_id=65131834

So here goes again.

You hit the nail on the head, and I agree that most of the commentators and the market haven't picked up on why Talga is way ahead of the competition. The lack of understanding of graphite/anode is obvious when you read some of the articles that come out or watch these youtube analyst videos.

Talga's secret sauce is the deposit. Not all graphite is created equal and Talga have the highest grade graphite resource (JORC) globally that is highly conductive and naturally size for anode, thanks to the Cyanobacteria. Mark Thompson is a renowned geologist and scoured the world for the best graphite deposits before deciding on Vittangi, well before the EV industry had taken off. The original play was graphene but they pivoted to market demand and the fastest path to commercialisation in battery materials. Good luck? Maybe, but you make your own luck.

What I also don't think most realise is that anode is a completely different beast to cathode and requires highly specialised knowledge to produce. This is where Talga are a battery materials technology company, not a miner/processor.

Processed lithium doesn’t have the same specialised knowledge to produce and can be purchased as raw material feedstock as long as it meets certain specifications. Most battery manufacturers can take the processed lithium to produce their own cathode material, however I haven't seen any in Europe that can produce anode material.

The barriers to entry are significant as anode Material is not a raw material feedstock but a battery ready product that is highly customised for each model of car. This means the qualification process takes far longer than lithium to ensure it will meet the customer requirements. Look at Syrah’s offtake agreement with Tesla, it’s conditional on them achieving product qualification by 31 May 2025. They’re well behind Talga, the offtake with ACC is a result of already completed successful qualification test work and is due to go binding.

Take Northvolt as an example - they just announced a $1.1 billion convertible note to finance their in house cathode material production from lithium hydroxide feedstock. However, they do not have the capability to produce their own anode. See the below table from a Northvolt process document, they take the active anode material (Talnode C for example) and then "coat" the copper foil with anode slurry. They are relying on an upstream supplier (which has been censored) for this.

If Talga aren't one of their supplier then I will be truly shocked. Sweden are trying to create a circular economy for electrification, from green mining of raw materials, to green batteries, to green steel for electric vehicles. It only makes sense that Talga supply the anode from a locally sourced green mine and anode operation.

Talga's problem will not be how much funding they can access (the investment banks are already lining up and the EU is due to pass the Critical Raw Materials Act early next year to fund projects of strategic significance), or how much graphite anode they can produce as the capability is there with partners like ABB. It is how much Sweden will let them mine. It seems with the new government and recently approved mines, and focus on critical materials from the EU, that the tides are changing in this regard.