Graphite miner turned anode material producer Syrah ramps up Louisiana plant

Syrah Resources (ASX: SYR) is now producing active anode material (AAM) production at its Vidalia facility in Louisiana. This makes the graphite miner the first commercial-scale vertically integrated natural graphite AAM supplier outside China, said CEO Shaun Verner on Friday.

Vidalia processes natural graphite from Syrah’s Balama graphite mine in Mozambique.

Syrah is expected to supply 8,000 tonnes per year AAM from Vidalia to Tesla under an existing offtake agreement, subject to production ramp-up and finalizing qualification.

The plant has a nameplate capacity of 11,300 tonnes per year of anode material, but is considering an expansion to 45,000 tonnes per year.

“Our 11,250 tonne per year AAM Vidalia operation is strategic for both Syrah and the North American battery supply chain and is the foundation of our downstream growth strategy,” Verner said in a release. “The importance of Vidalia is reinforced by China’s recent introduction of export controls on natural and synthetic graphite and its products, and U.S. guidance on the definition of foreign entity of concern governing qualification for the Section 30D tax credit for new electric vehicles.”

China’s restrictions on graphite exports were announced in October.

The company said it has produced unpurified spherical graphite from the front-end milling area since October 2023 to build inventory of precursor value-added material in preparation for the commissioning of the purification and furnace areas in early 2024.

The first purified spherical graphite material was produced in late January.

The heating cycle for the first furnace line began in early January, and carbonization of Syrah’s first pitch-coated purified spherical graphite is now complete.

Syrah has applied to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for an additional loan of US$350 million under DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program to support funding of the expansion.

Shares of Syrah were down 3.3% on the news at A52¢. The company has a market capitalization of US$238 million.