PERTH: EcoGraf Limited has formalised a Participant Agreement with the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBI CRC) based at Curtin University, Perth.

The $135 million FBICRC aims to position Australia as a global leader in the environmentally, ethically and socially responsible manufacture, deployment, recycling and supply of batteries and battery materials by partnering with industry, research institutions and government to address industry-identified gaps in the nation’s battery industries value chain.

EcoGraf will be one of FBI CRC’s industry partners, helping to provide the technology needed to identify opportunities for greater efficiencies in battery minerals’ extraction and refinement. EcoGraf’s proposed development in Kwinana, Western Australia is consistent with FBICRC goals, which aim to expand battery minerals and chemicals production and develop opportunities for manufacturing batteries in Australia.

The Company’s unique eco-friendly graphite purification technology at its planned Kwinana development will provide critical material for FBI CRC research programs. Significant downstream and value-adding opportunities exist within graphite supply chain markets, particularly in the manufacture of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries as customers increasingly seek alternative supplies of high quality, responsibly produced raw materials.