Joint Venture Heads of Terms Signed for Anode Materials Production in Finland
Beowulf (AIM: BEM; Spotlight: BEO), the mineral exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that its 100 per cent owned Finnish subsidiary Grafintec Oy (“Grafintec”) and Epsilon Advanced Materials Private Limited (“Epsilon Advanced Materials”), a subsidiary of Epsilon Carbon Private Limited, have signed a Joint Venture (“JV”) Heads of Terms for the establishment of an anode materials production facility to be located in Finland.
It is intended that the proposed plant will supply battery/cell manufacturing companies in Europe, complementing Epsilon Advanced Materials’ growing anode materials business in India. The plant will be built in two phases, Phase 1 with a production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per annum (“TPA”) and Phase 2 which will add 40,000 TPA, taking overall plant capacity to 50,000 TPA of anode material.
During the summer this year, Grafintec was granted funding by Business Finland as part of the BATCircle2.0 (Finland-based Circular Ecosystem of Battery Metals) consortium. BATCircle2.0 is a key project in Business Finland`s Smart Mobility and Batteries from Finland programmes. As a critical first step, this grant funding will be used by Grafintec to develop a Bankable Feasibility Study for the plant in Finland, including a detailed strategic marketing and commercialisation plan, based on a comparable plant being developed by Epsilon Advanced Materials in India.
Under the JV, Grafintec (which will own 49% of the JV) and Epsilon Advanced Materials (which will own 51% of the JV) will work together on the study with the ambition of creating a sustainable value chain in Finland from high-quality natural flake graphite resources to anode materials production, leveraging renewable power, targeting net zero CO2 across the supply chain, benefiting from the significant support of Business Finland and collaboration within the Finnish Battery Cluster.
Kurt Budge, Chief Executive Officer of Beowulf, commented:
“Since March this year, we have had a productive working relationship with Epsilon Advanced Materials. From signing the MoU, to developing ideas through the summer, and my visit to India in September which accelerated our plans.
“With the financial support of Business Finland this summer under BATCircle2.0 and signing the Heads of Terms with Epsilon Advanced Materials, we are looking forward to a busy start to 2022.
“In Epsilon Advanced Materials, we have found a partner that shares our sustainability values and we are looking forward to an exciting future ahead as we seek to establish a Finnish anode materials supply chain.”
Vikram Handa, Managing Director of Epsilon Advance Materials Private Limited, commented:
“Over the year, our belief has grown in the opportunity of establishing an anode materials plant in Europe. As we continue to qualify our active anode material portfolio with customers in Europe, we believe that the Epsilon Advanced Materials – Grafintec JV will bring the supply chain closer to our European customers leading to lower risks and enhanced service levels. We are seeking to leverage Epsilon Advanced Material’s technological advances with Finland’s natural resources, renewable power and natural flake graphite, and play a full role in the collaborative Finnish Battery Cluster.”
Enquiries:
Beowulf Mining plc
Kurt Budge, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7583 8304
