HXG (ASX) Ann: Update Alabama Graphite-Gateway to US Battery Supply Chain

Originally posted by cartex ↑

I have spoken to Mike Rosenstreich on a couple of occasions on HXG and he has take a different approach by incorporating down stream processing. This requires significant technical graphite expertise for advanced graphite products as well as target application expertise; both of which will be a challenge. You cannot enter into a market / target application with basic information both technical and by application as there are a multitude of specification requirements that have to be understood and met.

Not all advanced graphite products have to be high purity or fine particle sized to meet application specs. Micronised flake graphite PSD ranges from D90 - 5 micron to 75 micron and purity targets ranging from 95% LOI to 99.95% LOI. A very limited number of applications use purities of 99.9995% including nuclear grade products and high end foils. At this level purity of < 10 total ppm, no visible artifacts can be seen on the flake surface. It is also important to note that the higher the purity of a graphite product DOES NOT translate into higher performance. There are several factors that contribute to the successful qualification of an advanced graphite product.

Also, no natural flake graphite is used in commercial electrode manufacturing as a green electrode with natural flake graphite added will cause inclusions it the graphitised electrode, create potential cracks, and affect the porosity; hence green electrode butts (post green electrode machining) are ground and blended with the green precursor electrode mix as a low cost method of using green electrode scrap and improving electrode strength. It is important to note flake graphite is electrically conductive and during the Acheson process creates arcing within the green electrode causing weakness and inclusions. I have spoke to several electrode manufacturers and engineers on this very topic EAF, UP, and UAP electrodes. I believe SYR signed an MOU with an electrode manufacturer that never materialised. There has been lab testing on adding natural flake graphite by a few electrode manufacturers without significant results.

I do applaud HXG for pursuing Thermal purification as this is the future of flake graphite purification over any caustic / chemical purification. Thermal purification is only cost effective is sourced electrical power is economical, otherwise it is cost prohibitive.

Finally, as with standard mesh flake graphite products, all advanced graphite products have to be qualified and no end user will commit to any new supplier until ISO certified, commercial production is achieved. Lab qualifications on ANY pilot plant graphite products are indicators ONLY and commercial bulk samples would be the next step to verify lab testing results before any commercial homologations can begin. No graphite product will qualify in every target application as each natural flake graphite possesses specific metallurgical and chemical markers that may or no meet performance or formulation metrics. There are no direct substitutes of one graphite powder over another as any new graphite product will require full qualifications.

It is good to see a potential flake graphite producer such as HXG look outside the "hype" box, yet the more advanced the graphite product, the fewer the number of suppliers, the more complex the application, and the metrics to qualify increase significantly. It also appears they are receiving some technical support from a former IMERYS employee as well as input from a Chicago Lab based on the number of documents in HXG's public releases.

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Thanks Cartex.
Excellent write up.

Do you have any comment on how the McIntosh project/graphite is shaping up?
It seems to be of high quality but low grade

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