Other jurisdictions under consideration for BAF facilities include Madagascar, the UAE and North America. The plants will produce a range of anode active materials including spherodised purified graphite (SPG) and coated SPG (CSPG).

Engineering service provider, Stantec, has completed a conceptual Middle East compliant design and an AACE Class 5 evaluation. The KSA BAF design will be based on NextSource’s technology partner’s proprietary anode processing technology that is currently supplying SPG and CSPG material to major EV automotive companies (OEMs), including Toyota and Tesla. The KSA plant is likely to be in the industrial city of Yanbu.

The KSA BAF will have a capacity of 20ktpy of CSPG, with construction estimated to take 16 months. Capital costs for the plant are US$280M, with US$12M funded through equity. Annual forecasted revenues of $230M with an EBITDA of $128.5M, with a plant life of 30 years. Average operating costs are estimated at US$4,571/t of CSPG.

This first study is part of NextSource’s plans to develop an anode processing hub over the next five years, with a total production capacity of 100ktpy of CSPG. Each of the BAF facilities will be a modular production design, that can be expanded as OEM demand increases. The incremental capital to reach 100ktpy is estimated to be $865M in total. Meanwhile, the next steps for NextSource are exact site selection and completion of a feasibility study for the first BAF plant.

In Madagascar, NextSource has begun production at its Molo Graphite Mine with Phase 1 mine operations currently undergoing ramp-up to reach its nameplate production capacity of 17ktpy of graphite concentrate. The company already has plans in place for a 3.6kpty BAF plant in the port of Port-Louis, Mauritius.

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What role does Africa play in the future of the manganese sulphate supply chain?