Falcon Energy Materials has opened a pilot plant in Morocco to make a key battery material as it pushes to build a supply chain outside China. The facility, in Jorf Lasfar near Casablanca, is the first pilot plant in the country to produce coated spheronized purified graphite, or CSPG. The material is used to make the anodes in lithium-ion batteries.
The plant is now being commissioned after Falcon moved and installed a fully assembled processing line in Morocco.
Production of qualification samples is expected to begin this summer. The samples will be sent to carmakers and battery manufacturers for testing and certification.
The pilot plant is also designed to collect production data for Falcon’s planned commercial factory, which is expected to produce 25,000 tonnes of CSPG a year. It will also train workers before full-scale production begins.
“The opening of our Pilot Plant in Morocco is a defining milestone for Falcon. It marks our transition from planning and procurement to operational execution and advances our goal of building a competitive battery anode supply chain outside of China,” said Matthieu Bos, Falcon’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
“This facility allows us to produce qualification scale CSPG samples for potential customers while generating the operating knowledge, workforce experience and process data that will de-risk and accelerate the development of our commercial Anode Plant.”
The pilot line can produce about 100kg of CSPG a day. Falcon plans to invest about $86m in the commercial plant once customers approve the material.
The company will process high-purity natural graphite from Africa, including graphite from its Lola Graphite Project in Guinea. It said it will also assess other graphite sources to secure a reliable supply as production grows.
CSPG is one of the most important materials used in electric vehicle batteries. China currently dominates global production, making almost all of the world’s supply.
Western carmakers have been looking for new suppliers as governments encourage companies to reduce their dependence on Chinese battery materials.
Jorf Lasfar has become one of the country’s main battery materials hubs. The industrial zone is home to OCP Group’s chemical complex and gives companies access to chemicals needed to refine graphite, including hydrofluoric acid supplied by Fluoralpha. Battery materials companies Tinci Materials and BTR New Material Group are also building plants in the area.
Falcon Energy Materials is based in Abu Dhabi and listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the ticker FLCN. It was previously known as SRG Mining before changing its name to reflect its focus on battery materials.
