BlackEarth Minerals says criticality of graphite to future needs is unquestionable

BlackEarth Minerals NL (ASX:BEM) has noted that the criticality of graphite to global future needs is unquestionable, even in the short term.  Issuing a warning not to underestimate the value of graphite to organisations in and out of China, it said coarse flake production was materially decreasing in China.  There is a significant gap between investors and end-users/governments on the understanding/importance of natural graphite on future green and sustainable economics.  A lot of misinformation The company said there was a lot of misinformation on graphite, noting that the assumptions on future supply often did not take into account recovery, competing needs between industries and that a lot of material would never qualify.  Further, there were not many new mines likely to come online in the near future due to issues relating to geopolitics, product size/quality and funding. The pricing for the same product was highly variable resulting in market knowledge and networks being key to maximising revenue. BlackEarth said there was also no 'graphite price', with the price of coarse material largely moving independent of fines graphite. Critical commodity It said graphite was a critical commodity due to responsible supply risk and its economic importance. ➢ Access to resources and sustainability is key for the EU’s resilience in relation to raw materials, according to the European Commission; and ➢ The US is 100% import reliant on 14 minerals on the critical minerals list, aside from a small amount of recycling. These minerals include graphite, manganese, niobium, rare earths and tantalum, among others. Downstream value-add opportunities BlackEarth is reviewing several downstream value-added graphite processing opportunities for its Maniry Graphite Project in southern Madagascar, with its bankable feasibility study (BFS) underway. On completion of its BFS, the next stage is project execution, including engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and engineering, procurement, construction and management (EPCM) contracts. It is looking into further development into the potential downstream processing of coarse flake material which will significantly increase project revenue. Graphite from its Maniry project meets the specifications required for applications in the expandables, refractory and lithium-ion battery industries. Expected newsflow In the next three to four months, the company expects to update on its Maniry pilot plant, including the exploration activities at Razafy NW (Maniry) with the focus on adding high-grade resources. It will also continue on graphite offtake arrangement talks and its BFS activities. As for its Donnelly River base metals project in Western Australia, it plans to complete the regional geochemical sampling and versatile time-domain electromagnetics survey (VTEM) and the identification of drill-ready targets. The vertically integrated graphite developer with advanced mining projects in Madagascar and base metal prospects (nickel-copper-PGE) in Western Australia is also exploring in the high-grade northwest zone of Maniry. The company holds the flagship Maniry project in southern Madagascar and the Donnelly River Prospect, about 240 kilometres south of Perth in WA.