Major Deals Struck for Tanzania’s Chilalo Graphite Project to Supply Battery Anode Materials

Australian mining company Evolution Energy Minerals, which is developing its Chilalo Graphite Project in Tanzania, has executed strategic agreements with BTR New Material Group the world’s largest producer of battery anode materials.

The deals include a strategic investment, binding offtake agreement, and memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on downstream processing.

Under the agreements, BTR will take a 9.9% stake in Evolution via an AUD 4.9 million placement and will also enter a binding offtake agreement for a 100% supply of fine flake graphite concentrate from Chilalo once operational.

Combined with Evolution’s existing offtakes, around 90% of the project’s planned production is now under binding agreements.

BTR has also agreed to participate in financing the development and construction of the Chilalo Project to help accelerate Evolution’s transition into an integrated battery anode material supplier.

Evolution Managing Director Phil Hoskins commented: “The Strategic Placement, Offtake Agreement, and MOU with BTR represent a transformational opportunity for Evolution and provide further validation of the Chilalo project’s quality, including the significant value-added potential into battery anodes.”

For his part, BTR Senior Vice President Chen Xiaodong said: “BTR has built an international reputation as a leader in the high-quality LiB market. We are pleased that Evolution will become BTR’s main overseas natural graphite partner. Our close cooperation will contribute to the innovation of LiB materials and support the development of the global new energy industry.”

About Chilalo

The Chilalo Graphite Project is located in southeast Tanzania and has been shown to be the world’s highest-grade graphite deposit, with a JORC-compliant resource of 26.9 Mt at 10.3% TGC.

The project is expected to produce approximately 60,000 tonnes per year of graphite concentrate.