NextSource Materials reports that a technical team from Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) attended a site visit at the company’s Molo graphite mine, in Madagascar, this week, as part of an independent study by the BGR on graphite production in the country.
BGR expressed specific interest in assessing Molo, alongside traditional graphite operations elsewhere in Madagascar, as a benchmark asset and potential supplier of natural graphite and anode material to Germany – reflecting the strategic priority the German federal government places on graphite as a critical raw material for the European country’s industry, the European battery supply chain and energy security.
The study is being conducted with the approval and support of the Madagascar Ministry of Mines, with findings to be presented to Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
NextSource notes that, as with the US and Canada, Germany has placed critical raw materials at the centre of its industrial and energy security policy.
Natural graphite is on the EU’s Critical Raw Materials List and the German federal government has committed significant capital to its diversification agenda – including the €1-billion raw materials fund administered by the country’s State development bank KfW, which provides minority equity investment of up to €150-million in qualifying upstream mining and processing projects, alongside a coordinated €2.5-billion critical minerals investment framework with France and Italy.
“As one of very few sources of high-quality natural flake graphite in production outside of China, Molo is well-suited to and aligned with the strategic supply objectives Germany is actively focused on,” NextSource states.