Kibaran Resources has signed an agreement to supply graphite concentrate from its Epanko project in Tanzania to Japanese commodities trading company Sojitz.
Under the five-year agreement, Kibaran will supply Tanzanian graphite to Sojitz, which will be distributed in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
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The agreement provides the framework for sales of a minimum of 14,000t a year of natural flake graphite products.
Under the existing design, the Epanko plant will have the capacity to annually produce 44,000t of flake graphite concentrate.
Kibaran already has signed agreements with Germany-based ThyssenKrupp for the supply of 30,000t og graphite.
Prior to signing the agreement, Sojitz completed due diligence, including a global review of potential graphite suppliers to meet the increasing demand from the lithium battery industry.
The company will also market Epanko graphite for key applications in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and the US.
Kibaran managing director Andrew Spinks said: “Kibaran is now studying the potential to increase Epanko’s production capacity based on forecast growth in lithium battery demand.”
“Graphite demand is forecast to treble on the back of the lithium battery demand and Kibaran’s relationship with Sojitz and the ability to expand Epanko’s capacity means it will be ideally positioned to capitalise on this opportunity.”
