Talga Resources’ anode feasibility studies backed by UK government

Special Report: Talga Resources has been awarded ~$2.3m from the UK government towards feasibility studies for its Talnode-Si and Talnode-C products.

The grants originate from the UK government’s £1bn ($1.8bn) Automotive Transformation Fund and will aid Talga Resources (ASX:TLG) in advancing commercialisation of two of its lithium-ion battery anode products in the UK.

The $2.3m breaks down into two separate grant funded projects, including, $520,000 for a preliminary feasibility study towards scale-up of Talga’s silicon rich battery anode, Talnode-Si.

“The UK has provided an attractive innovation ecosystem for Talga’s silicon anode product over the last few years, and with the increasing local demand for high-performance battery materials it is proving an attractive location for future commercialisation,” managing director, Mark Thompson, said.

An additional $1.8m grant is for a feasibility study into the commercial viability of a Talga UK anode refinery for production of the company’s flagship Li-ion battery anode product Talnode-C.

The Talnode-C refinery project study has a completion date of March 2021, and will focus on engineering, permitting, renewable energy and economic aspects of the plant.

Study for proposed Talga refinery in the UK

The proposed UK Talnode-C plant would share a feedstock with Talga’s planned Swedish anode refinery by importing natural flake graphite in concentrate form from the company’s Vittangi operation in Sweden.

The UK does not have any graphite deposits feasible to make battery anodes and is believed to require 200,000 tonnes per annum of the material by 2027 to support domestic production.

“With a large automotive industry employing nearly 800,000 people and a rich history of iconic manufacturers such as Jaguar-Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, McLaren and many more, we see significant growth opportunities in the UK’s electrification process causing increased demand for our battery materials,” said Thompson.

The company is in talks with several potential UK customers that have showed interest in Talnode-C and expressed their support for the study.

Talga’s silicon battery product supported by UK funding

Talga’s silicon-rich Li-ion battery anode product Talnode-Si has been under development at the company’s battery materials centre in the UK city of Cambridge.

The work has demonstrated a promising commercial route for the production of higher-energy density anodes for Li-ion batteries that could significantly increase the driving range of EVs.

Talnode-Si is a highly engineered composite of silicon, graphene and graphite utilising metallurgical-grade silicon for lower costs.

“It is exciting to see our plans to fast-track Talnode®-Si being supported by the Automotive Transformation Fund, at a time when the UK’s diverse and high-quality automotive industry is undergoing rapid electrification,” said Thompson.

A global shift is away from fossil fuel-based transportation is underway, leading to a boom in Li-ion battery applications to power electric vehicles, said the company.

To ramp up EV markets, improvements to the driving range of vehicles are required as are cost reductions, and both can be achieved by improving the energy density of the anode material in the Li-ion battery cell.

Commercialisation options for Talga silicon anode product

Talga is targeting stand-alone commercial production options in Europe for its Talnode-Si product following recent market testing, and the preliminary feasibility study will look to support this.

The study is designed to cover technical and commercial work to define plans to scale up production of Talnode-Si and support potential investment for UK Talnode®-Si production.

Included in the study is a series of work packages to cover scale-up trials, demand estimates, engineering plans and identification of cost and sustainability benefits.

The company is working with several UK consultants to complete the study in the first half of 2021.

UK committed to low-carbon supply chain for automotive industry

The Automotive Transformation Fund promotes the large-scale industrialisation of an electrified supply chain for a zero-emission automotive industry in the UK.

The ATF is collaborating with several UK-based technology and government organisations including, the Advanced Propulsion Centre, and the UK Department for Business Energy and Industry Strategy.

“The APC is committed to ensuring a low-carbon future for the UK automotive industry that is backed up by a stable, competitive and scalable supply chain. By undertaking feasibility studies like this we hope to be able to reach large-scale industrialisation and commercialisation of an electrified supply chain quicker and more effectively,” said APC director of automotive transformation, Julian Hetherington.

This article was developed in collaboration with Talga Resources, 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.