Graphite producer Quantum Graphite has potentially secured $300-million in funding from the Export–Import Bank of the United States (Exim) for a project that will support an end-to-end supply chain for the delivery of refined flake graphite to the East Coast of the US.
The company has received a letter of interest and nonbinding term sheet from Exim. Quantum points out that no binding offer has been made yet.
Quantum’s Utile project includes two distinct activities and related logistics that, combined, ensure a platform is maintained for US domestic production of purified graphite. The platform will start with the delivery of up to 100 000 t/y of high-purity graphite.
The project has been designed with the capability to grow US domestic production from Quantum-sourced flake graphite concentrate and more generally from flake concentrate from the Eastern Eyre Peninsula, in Australia.
The financing will cover mining and production at Uley mine in Australia, among others.