Greenland-focused GreenRoc Strategic Materials has received a letter of interest from the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) to provide funding for the company’s Amitsoq graphite project, in south Greenland.

The EIFO usually issues AAA-rated guarantees, backed by the Danish State, of loans provided by financial institutions. It has been involved in the financing of a significant number of transactions and projects across all continents.

GreenRoc will use the financial support, if realised, towards the purchase of equipment and services from FLSmidth and other Danish suppliers, to progress its feasibility study on the project and eventually the construction of the planned mine.

Both the EIFO and GreenRoc have experience in working with FLSmidth successfully on projects globally.

GreenRoc will now work with the EIFO to work up a detailed financing proposal. The issuance of an EIFO guarantee will be subject to normal and customary project due diligence.

Meanwhile, the company is undertaking work to determine the best methods for the beneficiation of Amitsoq’s graphite ore into graphite concentrate. The testwork currently involves the use of FLSmidth’s newly developed pressurised flotation cell Reflux technology.

The test system has a smaller footprint, higher throughput rate and reduced water and energy consumption compared with standard flotation systems.

There is growing interest from governments and public agencies such as the EIFO in the Amitsoq graphite project, which will aid GreenRoc in becoming a major producer of responsibly sourced and processed graphite anode material for the battery industry, says GreenRoc CEO Stefan Bernstein.

FLSmidth capital sales head and senior VP Peter Flanagan adds that the company is happy to support the development of early-stage projects, particularly since the supply and demand gap for critical minerals needs to be narrowed if the global energy transition is to realise.

EIFO chief commercial officer Peter Boeskov says graphite is forecast to face a global supply deficit by 2030.

“GreenRoc’s graphite mining project plays a vital role in supporting the green transition by supplying a critical raw material for the rapidly expanding electric vehicle battery market.

“This aligns well with the EIFO’s strategic objectives, and we are happy to promote activities in Greenland as well as supporting FLSmidth and other Danish suppliers to the mining sector,” Boeskov states.

The EIFO anticipates that the Amitsoq mine, once operational, will contribute to Greenland’s economy by creating numerous local jobs and driving GDP growth.

The Amitsoq deposit currently has a combined measured, indicated and inferred resource of 23-million tonnes of graphite grading 20.41% - for total graphite content of 4.7-million tonnes. The project also has significant upside.

A preliminary economic assessment on the project estimates a post-tax net present value (NPV) of $179-million, an internal rate of return (IRR) of 26.7% and a capital expenditure (capex) requirement of $131-million.

A feasibility study into the establishment of a graphite spheronisation processing plant, which was published last year, shows a post-tax NPV for the project of $621-million, an IRR of 26.5% and capex of $340-million.

GreenRoc also has a letter of intent in place to secure an area for an active anode materials plant in southern Norway, as well as expressions of support from the European Raw Materials Alliance and the US Export-Import Bank for future development.

In November last year, GreenRoc signed a memorandum of understanding with Morrow Batteries, which has a gigafactory in Norway, to collaborate on a regional supply chain for battery anode material.