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Talga scales up pilot production as Europe’s big EV players line up for battery anode samples
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Special Report: Talga has successfully completed a 60-tonne pilot-scale processing program producing graphite concentrate — the feedstock for its planned anode refinery and ongoing customer qualification programs.
Talga (ASX:TLG) plans to be the first and largest battery anode producer in Europe, an emerging electric vehicle powerhouse.
Its integrated graphite anode project in Sweden has the potential to make serious money over its initial 22-year life, according to a May pre-feasibility study.
An open-pit mining operation, on-site concentrator and coastal anode refinery will produce about 19,000 tonnes per annum of Talnode®-C, the company’s graphite lithium-ion battery anode product.
Today’s announcement was a big step towards realising this integrated operation.
Pilot plants are smaller versions of the real thing, designed to test if a process works on the desired scale with the preferred flowsheet.
In Talga’s case it does. The 60t pilot program – 20x larger than that used in the pre-feasibility study — has shown the process flowsheet for graphite concentrate output is suitable for planned commercial production.
This successful boost in processing scale was a big milestone in progressing Talga’s integrated graphite mine and anode refinery in Sweden.
READ: What sets Talga apart from its peers?
Now, the concentrate will progress to next stage refining into Talga’s flagship anode product, called Talnode®-C, for ongoing development and larger customer qualification programs.
Feeding the hungry European EV industry
Talga’s targeted customers include Europe’s major battery makers and electric vehicle manufacturers.
Graphite anode is an advanced product that requires extensive physical testing by cell or battery manufacturers at increasing volumes prior to commercialisation.
The recent addition of several EV customers to Talga’s commercial register means the company has to provide more advanced samples, that have undergone quality control at increased levels and been produced using larger production scale equipment.
Talga is currently investing in upscaled equipment and other components of the Talnode®-C production supply chain at its European operations to meet these ongoing customer qualification programs.
“The automotive and cell companies that we are talking to, they actually want European [anode] supply starting in 2022 or earlier,” Thompson told Stockhead last year.
“Local supply isn’t just strategically important but can be mandated by the financiers and local governments.
“Our growth is strategically designed to match the growth of the wider industry. It’s great timing.”
