General Discussion IG6, page-490

The biggest issue (pro and con) is that China controls over 90% of the market for processed graphite.

Con: China can manipulate the price to make it uneconomical for any competitors.

Pro: Geopolitical tensions means that there is growing demand for non-China processed graphite which favours suppliers like IG6 who are aiming to mine and process all their own graphite so will have a secure supply chain once fully up and running.

IG6 has a planned mining and concentration plant at Springdale, WA and downstream processing facilities at Collie, WA. Currently at Collie they have an R&D facility and qualification plant. They are in the process of getting approvals and constructing a Micronising Facility with a larger Battery Anode Material facility nearby currently in the planning stage.

Concentrated and micronised natural graphite has a range of uses, eg as a battery anode material for lithium ion batteries (which actually contain more graphite than lithium), lubricants, most military equipment, etc.

Initially IG6 focused mostly on the EV use case with the Battery Anode Material however there is a lot of work being done on alternatives to lithium ion batteries, although the most likely seems to be a silicon based battery (which still needs graphite).