Talga taps into $25 million for EV anode plant development

Special Report: Talga Group has raised $25 million to accelerate development of its Vittangi anode project, with plans to bring in a further $10 million via a SPP.

The placement was well supported by institutions domestically and internationally, with demand well in excess of the funds Talga Group (ASX:TLG) sought to raise.

Its proceeds will be used to fund the Electric Vehicle Anode (EVA) pilot plant as part of the development of the Vittangi anode project in northern Sweden, as well as for working capital.

Talga is also seeking to raise up to $10 million through a non-underwritten share purchase plan which will go towards additional working capital and support the future development of Vittangi.

Talga’s mission at Vittangi is to establish a European supply of sustainable, low carbon emission anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

The company is planning on developing an integrated graphite anode facility capable of producing about 19,000 tonnes of commercial anode from 2023.

“The proceeds from the raising will be used towards constructing and operating our EVA pilot plant in 2021 as a key step to finalise the EV customer validation processes currently underway,” Talga managing director Mark Thompson said.

“The EV revolution is here today and Talga is ideally positioned to build a new low-cost, large-scale graphite anode supply chain outside of Asia to serve the European and North American markets.

“Our recently announced Niska scoping study confirms the scalability of our project and supports a 450% increase to our current European anode production plans, taking our planned total anode production to meet approximately 100GWh of annual lithium-ion battery capacity in 2025-26.

“The unique properties of our Vittangi graphite deposit result in materially higher anode yields. This, in combination with access to low-cost 100% renewable power and proximity to our end customers, means that Talga will be able to deliver a graphite anode with a fraction of the emissions footprint compared to incumbent synthetic products.”

A growth sector

Graphite’s re-emergence among a suite of battery metals was discussed by Thompson in conversation this week, when he highlighted that this time around the market’s fundamentals were driven by foot traffic.
“This boom will be driven by real consumers and governments and the economics of the end product – electric vehicles — not speculation by investors on the raw material supply chain,” he said.
“You now have sales data showing a doubling to tripling of EV sales in almost every market.
“Everyone wants to get exposure to that supply chain again — to get invested in what no doubt will be a long-term trend.”
Talga is one of those at the forefront. The company has a graphite resource at Vittangi of 19.5 million tonnes grading 24% graphite – a commodity considered a critical raw material for the transition to a more sustainable society by the European Commission.
Talga is also in the process of fast-tracking development and commercialisation of a mass-producible silicon battery anode product to meet demand from the automotive industry.

The Talnode-Si product uses lower-cost metallurgical-grade silicon in unoptimised lithium-ion battery cells with positive results.

Feasibility studies on the product are being fast-tracked to target standalone commercial production options in Europe. This is expected to be finalised in Q1 of 2021.

This study, as well as a feasibility study for the Talnode-C product, were recently awarded around $2.3 million in grants from the UK Government’s Automotive Transformation Fund.

This article was developed in collaboration with Talga Group, 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.