Ecograf, VinES explore Vietnamese anode material plant

Australian graphite developer Ecograf and Vietnamese battery manufacturer VinES Energy Solutions have agreed to jointly explore developing a battery anode material project in Vietnam.

The two firms signed a non-binding agreement to carry out a feasibility study to build a Vietnamese battery anode material plant, according to Ecograf on 9 October. If the study is successful, the two firms will enter into a binding agreement to jointly develop a battery anode supply chain in Vietnam, with potential feedstock supplies, product offtake, investment and financing arrangements.

The plant will be near the firm's existing operations in Vietnam, VinES' chief executive Pham Thuy Linh indicated, although actual details were undisclosed. VinES in 2022 partnered with Chinese lithium-ion battery manufacturer Gotion High-Tech to build a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery production facility in Vietnam's central Ha Tinh province, which would be the country's first LFP battery plant.

Ecograf and VinES will also assess Vietnamese graphite sources that can act as potential feedstock under a phased evaluation programme, with Ecograf seeking to also include output from its Epanko graphite project in Tanzania into the possible graphite material supplies in Vietnam.

Epanko in its first phase is expected to produce 73,000 t/yr of graphite concentrate, under the expected scenario of processing its oxide ore, according to Ecograf. It has applied for a mining licence that will increase the project's mining tenure to 50 years. It is finalising the location of a site near the Epanko project to build a 20,000 t/yr mechanical shaping facility that will shape and produce spheronised graphite.

By Joseph Ho