NEXTSOURCE Materials, a graphite development firm in Madagascar, is to press on with the development of downstream processing facilities in Abu Dhabi.
The Toronto-listed firm said on Wednesday it had approved the first phase of a Battery Anode Factory in the Emirate following an engineering study. The investment decision was despite delays caused by the war in the Middle East between Iran and the US and Israel.
CEO Hanré Rossouw said the conflict had “… inevitably delayed some work streams,” but that the UAE was “stable, strategically located, and highly supportive environment for advanced materials manufacturing”.
So far, NextSource’s plans have been well supported. The company raised C$25m after offering 58.8 million shares in a private placement to investors. Vision Blue, NextSource’s anchor investor, subscribed for about 47% of the total issue, effectively following its rights. Vision Blue founder, Mick Davis, is chair of NextSource.
The BAF would take unrefined graphite mined from the first phase of Molo, a mine opened by NextSource in Madagascar in 2024.
Graphite is an essential input in the manufacture of battery anodes in batteries (copper and cobalt are used in cathodes). Currently, China controls 65% of primary graphite output, and 90% of its processing capacity. NextSources’s anode factory would establish large-scale production of coated, spheronized and purified graphite for direct delivery to battery and automotive customers, the company said.
“The UAE continue to offer ,” said Rossouw. “Today’s decision signals our confidence in moving ahead while maintaining disciplined risk management,” he added.
