Name of the Project
Molo graphite project.

Location
Tulear region, south-western Madagascar.

Project Owner/s
Canadian battery materials development company NextSource Materials.

Project Description
The project is at the full feasibility study stage, and ranks as one of the biggest known highest-quality flake graphite deposits in the world; it is the only project with SuperFlake graphite.

NextSource will use an all-modular build approach to build the mine.

Initial production is expected to be 17 000 t/y over the first two years of production, followed by mine expansion in Year 3. The project could be incrementally expanded to provide additional feedstock for the company’s downstream initiatives.

The project also includes the construction of a hybrid solar photovoltaic, battery energy storage system and thermal energy facility.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
$24-million, plus $3-million for working capital.

Planned Start/End Date
Mine commissioning is targeted for 2022.

Latest Developments
NextSource Materials has produced its first SuperFlake graphite concentrate at the Molo mine.

The first tonne of production comprises +48 mesh jumbo-size, or SuperFlake, graphite. Since the initiation of plant commissioning in March, the commissioning and operations teams at the mine have progressed methodically through debottlenecking and optimisation activities.

The operations team will now shift their focus to ramping up the plant throughput to its nameplate capacity of 17 000 t/y.

NextSource expects to sell all the flake graphite produced at the Molo mine to key customers under existing offtake agreements, which include Germany’s thyssenkrupp Materials Trading and the company’s Japanese technical partner. The Japanese partner is the main supplier of value-added graphite to Japan’s biggest anode processor, which, in turn, supplies graphite anode material to multiple Japanese and international original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

NextSource is continuing discussions with several major electric vehicle (EV) companies and has received requests for multitonne samples of battery anode material as part of the OEMs' qualification process.

The company will start sending flake graphite qualifying material to its battery anode facility (BAF) technical partners for conversion into coated, spheronised, purified graphite (CSPG). CSPG is the final form of anode material that is assembled along with cathode material into finished lithium-ion batteries used in EV applications.

NextSource announced its strategy for the staged buildout of a series of BAFs – value-added processing facilities that convert flake graphite into CSPG – in key geographic locations in February 2023. The first BAF will be established in Mauritius. A technical study for the BAF, with an initial proposed production capacity of 3 600 t/y of CSPG, estimates that initial capital costs and working capital investments of $32.8-million will be needed.

The company expects to start a 12-month construction process in the third quarter of 2023, subject to obtaining the necessary funding, as well as completing the front-end engineering design study, and the environmental- and social-impact assessment process.

NextSource is also evaluating the potential to build BAFs in North America, the UK, and the European Union, and an artificial graphite (AG) production facility that would supply AG anode material, along with natural flake-based anode material.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Erudite Strategies (engineering, procurement and construction management contractor).

Contact Details for Project Information
NextSource Materials, tel +1416364 4911 or executive VP corporate development Brent Nykoliation, email brent@nextsourcematerials.com.