Shares in battery anode and advanced materials company Talga Group Ltd (ASX: TLG) are gaining ground today and are currently trading at 7.33% higher at $1.83.
The Talga share price is catching bids as investors respond positively to an announcement on its electric vehicle anode qualification (EVA) plant under construction in Sweden.
What did Talga announce?
Talga advised that the EVA plant is being constructed within the metals research institute, Swerim, located in Sweden. It will produce Talga's flagship lithium-ion battery anode material, called Talnode-C, for large scale customer qualification trials.
The EVA uses "high grade purified natural graphite" sourced from Talga's Vittangi graphite project, also in Sweden, to make the precursor material for Talnode-C.
It is understood to be the first lithium-ion battery anode production plant in Europe, according to the release.
Talga notes that on-site construction activities are now underway, whereas structural and electrical works are largely completed. Whilst international shipping delays have affected some delivery dates, Talga doesn't expect any negative impact to its timeline.
Further batches of the precursor material will be made using graphite from a 2021-22 trial mine that completed its first phase of development in October 2021. The first batch of this "trial mined graphite feed concentrate" has been produced and stored for the plant's commissioning.
Commenting on the plant update, Talga Managing Director Mark Thompson said:
The EVA plant is a key step in Talga's mission to enable the world's greenest batteries and represents real progress towards local decarbonisation strategies. We look forward to the commissioning of Europe's first coated anode production facility and continued qualification of our Talnode® products with Li-ion battery manufacturers.
What else did Talga come out with?
The company followed up with an announcement on its Vittangi site. Talga reported it had received first assay results from a recent drilling program at the project.
Talga says that all drill-holes "successfully intersected the targeted graphite unit over approximately 100m of strike and returned significant high-grade graphite (Cg) results from near surface".
Speaking on the assay results, Thompson said:
We are very pleased with the graphite results starting to come in from the 2021 drilling at Vittangi. The grades include some of the highest ever from the project, improving the potential to optimise the mine plan and upwardly revise ore reserves. This supports our goal of green anode production by further minimising the footprint of the project and is an exciting development in this time of rising graphite material prices. We look forward to further results from the balance of drilling and subsequent development of this strategically important resource for battery manufacturers in Europe.
The Talga share price has underperformed in the last 12 months, posting a loss of 7% in that time. Despite the troubles, it has regained course this year to date and is up 13% from January 1.
In the last month, it has come off a low of $.148 and closed as high as $2.20 on 9 November, before retracing back down to its current levels.
