Graphite Wars

The Trillion Dollar Battery Race Has A Big Problem

FN Media Group Presents Oilprice.com Market Commentary

LONDON, Aug. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The EV industry faces a huge challenge of replacing, in record speed, internal combustion engines (ICE) that have ruled the roads for over a century—and domesticating the entire supply chain to meet the demands of an electric vehicle industry quickly closing in on a trillion-dollar market value. So far, it's all been done backwards, which is how many revolutionary ideas unfold …   Companies mentioned in this release include:  Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS), NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO), EnerSys (NYSE:ENS), Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TECK).

North America is building EV factories first, then battery gigafactories. Only after these grand plans has enough attention been given to mineral processing. And coming in last, is mining of those critical minerals necessary to make it all happen.

This is the necessary reality. Investors saw what happened to lithium mining when it attempted to surge ahead into its proper place: The market wasn't ready for supply to catch up with future demand, but lithium miners fought on. Now, it's graphite's turn.

Graphite makes up 95-99% of the anode (negative electrode) material in lithium-ion batteries, making it the largest component in any EV battery. Once you get past the lithium hype, quiet graphite is the most critical element here. A 'lithium-ion' battery can contain 15X more graphite than lithium, and make up some 25% of a battery's total volume, leading Tesla's Elon Musk to state that they should, effectively, be called 'nickel-graphite batteries'.

Now, with EV demand explosive and the industry on track to grow another 35% this year, we need experienced operators who can feed the battery gigafactories with refined graphite.

For North America, which has zero commercial production of refined graphite, that advantage goes to Graphex Group Ltd (GRFX), led by John DeMaio, who has 35 years of experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors, including as former President, CEO and Board Member of JouleSmart Solutions, general manager of Siemens Smart Infrastructure, VP of MWH Global, VP of SPG Solar and COO of Thompson Solar Technologies.