LONDON, UK: Alkemy Capital Investments plc (Alkemy) and Syrah Resources Limited (Syrah) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form a joint venture to build the UK’s first natural graphite active anode material (AAM) processing facility at the Wilton International Chemicals Park within the Teesside Freeport.

The joint venture will use natural graphite from Syrah’s Balama project in Mozambique, the world’s largest integrated graphite operation, to produce AAM for the UK and European battery markets. The plant will have an initial capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year and will be powered by low-carbon offshore wind energy.

The joint venture will benefit from Syrah’s expertise in graphite development and operations, and Alkemy’s development capabilities at the plug-and-play Wilton site, which has well-established infrastructure and utilities. The joint venture will also leverage the technology and design of Syrah’s Vidalia AAM facility in Louisiana, United States, to lower costs and accelerate production.

The joint venture agreement is expected to be finalized in the near-term, subject to further technical studies, approvals, financing and offtake commitments. Syrah and Alkemy’s subsidiary Tees Valley Graphite Limited will each have a 50% stake in the joint venture.

The project comes at a time when graphite demand is expected to surge from 1 million tonnes in 2022 to 6.5 million tonnes by 2033, driven by the growth of the electric vehicle and energy storage sectors. The joint venture aims to provide a secure and sustainable supply of AAM to the European market, which is currently reliant on imports from China.

Kien Huynh, Director of Tees Valley Graphite commented: “We are very pleased to be entering into this MOU for a joint venture with Syrah, which brings together Alkemy’s development expertise at Wilton with Syrah’s world leading graphite development, operations and sales expertise, to access the UK and European markets with a low carbon AAM product.

We believe that the evaluation of the Wilton AAM facility is a very timely development as UK and European customers grow increasingly concerned over potential future supply shortages especially in light of the recent export restrictions imposed by China.”

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