Kingsland’s graphite future scores $2.56m investment, Leliyn offtake deal

Kingsland Minerals secures $2.56m investment at 22% premium from Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners
Quinbrook has also agreed to offtake graphite concentrate produced by the Leliyn project
Leliyn concentrate could be processed at Quinbrook’s planned processing facility at Darwin’s Middle Arm precinct

Special Report: Kingsland Minerals has received a strong show of support by way of a $2.56m investment at a 22% premium that could lead to the development of an integrated graphite mining and downstream processing industry in the NT.

The strong show of confidence comes from Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, which subscribed for 11.1 million shares in the company at a 22% premium to its 30-day volume weighted average price.

This will see Quinbrook – a ‘value add’ investment manager with a specialist focus on the energy transition – emerge with a 15.3% stake in Kingsland Minerals (ASX:KNG) and a seat on its board.

While this is a clear sign the company’s 194.9Mt Leliyn graphite project – Australia’s largest graphite deposit – has caught investor attention, it is by no means the only takeaway from the investment.

Quinbrook has also agreed to buy all graphite concentrate produced by the project for processing into value-added products including battery-component manufacturing in Australia and internationally, and will provide renewable power for its operations.

Location of the Leliyn graphite project. Pic: Kingsland Minerals

A graphite mining and processing hub

“This is an important development for the company. One of Australia’s largest renewable investment managers, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, has recognised the potential of the Leliyn graphite project to supply graphite concentrate to the battery market,” managing director Richard Maddocks said.

“Quinbrook’s expertise and experience in identifying and developing renewable energy projects has been well documented.

“The strategy to establish a vertically integrated graphite mining and processing hub is also underpinned by the provision for offtake and renewable energy supply agreements with Quinbrook.

“We are pleased to have Quinbrook on our register as a cornerstone investor and look forward to working with them to develop Australia’s largest graphite project.”

Quinbrook managing director Brian Restall said the investment supports the development of a globally significant graphite resource that is intended to be used in establishing new and diverse clean energy supply chains, specifically in batteries.

“More than 90% of the material in a lithium battery anode is composed of graphite making this important resource a unique opportunity for value-add processing of critical minerals in Australia,” he added.

“The location of Kingsland’s resource compliments our plans for delivering mega scale renewables to the Territory via Suncable and our plans for the Middle Arm precinct.”

Brisbane headquartered Quinbrook invests across the technology landscape encompassing distributed scale solar PV, onshore wind, battery storage, biomass, fugitive methane recovery, demand response, grid support and flexibility, community energy networks, EV charging and ‘Virtual Power Plants’.

The investment manager is currently investigating the feasibility of locating a downstream graphite processing facility at the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct in Darwin.

Highlighting just how valuable graphite is shaping up to be, Benchmark Minerals Intelligence has flagged that $7.57 billion in capital expenditure (capex) investment will be needed to bring online more than 4 million tonnes of annual flake graphite production that’s required to meet battery demand in 2035.

Further steps

KNG is preparing to carry out a 3000m infill drilling program that will upgrade part of the current inferred resource of 194.6Mt grading 7.3% total graphitic carbon, or 14.2Mt of contained graphite, into the higher confidence indicated resource category.

This will in turn underpin the planned scoping study into the economic viability of the Leliyn project.

Drilling will take about a month to complete.

The company is also in the process of producing a bulk concentrate sample of 10-15kg from about 150kg of composite diamond drilling core that it had collected for metallurgical testing.

Earlier testing of this composite material had successfully produced a flotation concentrate of 94% TGC and variability testing of the individual sample has started.

The bulk sample will be sent to a testing facility in Germany where its suitability for processing into purified spherical graphite will be assessed with results expected during the June 2025 quarter.

KNG is also awaiting the result of its application to convert the Leliyn project into a mining lease.

This article was developed in collaboration with Kingsland Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.