Graphite miner Magnis Resources jumped 33 per cent this week after a series of announcements about its gigafactory plans in the US, Germany and Australia.

A gigafactory is a concept for huge plants that can produce lithium-ion batteries by the gigawatt-hour (GWh). A GWh is equivalent to one billion watts for one hour.

Electric car maker Tesla is building the first gigafactory in Nevada, to produce 35 gigawatt-hours of batteries per year needed to power the 500,000 electric cars it plans to build.

Magnis’s shares rose from 49c to a high of 58c after resuming trade on Thursday. The shares closed at 56c on Friday.

On Friday Magnis (ASX:MNS) announced it had joined a partnership to build a 30 GWh plant in Germany to provide for local car manufacturers. Magnis will be responsible for sourcing raw materials and technologies.

“Having the access to potential cluster synergies with the locally operating companies… all established leaders in their respective industries, is quite remarkable and a very strong vote of confidence to exploit the specific advantages of this specific region and cooperative concept,” Magnis chairman Frank Poullas told investors.

A day earlier, Magnis announced New York State would hand over $US13.25 million to a consortium, Imperium3 NY, that is building a 15 GWh gigafactory in Upper State New York. Magnis owns one third of Imperium3.

“With funding from New York State for the New York Lithium-ion gigafactory announced yesterday, coupled with today’s announcement, Magnis is in a very strong and enviable position to be a leading player in the Lithium-ion battery revolution,” Mr Poullas said.

The New York gigafactory is expected to operate from the second half of 2019.

In Australia, Magnis is pursuing plans for a 15GWh gigafactory in Townsville, Queensland, which could be in production by 2020.

Magnis’s key graphite mining project is the Nachu Graphite Project in south east Tanzania, about 220 km from the sea port of Mtwara.

Graphite is a key component of lithium-ion battery production, along with cobalt and lithium.

Graphite is used in the anode of the battery and it is where oxidation takes place in the battery where electrons are freed and flow out of the battery.

Magnis reported a loss of $9.7 million last year and had $7.5 million in the bank at the end of the June.

Its shares have traded between 36c and 91c in the past year.