A Memorandum of Understanding between Renascor Resources and POSCO, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates, will support a $209 million investment in South Australia to develop a manufacturing facility for a Siviour Mine and Concentrator at Eyre Peninsula and Battery Anode Material – creating 190 full time roles and over 100 jobs during construction.
The project has the potential to generate around $260 million a year in export revenue.
South Australia is on track to become the only jurisdiction outside the northern hemisphere to manufacture primary components in the supply to the electric vehicle battery value chain, following an MoU between Renascor Resources and POSCO.
The MoU provides for the purchase of up to 30,000 tonnes per annum of Purified Spherical Graphite (PSG) from Renascor’s planned Battery Anode Material (BAM) manufacturing facility in South Australia and a potential equity investment by POSCO in Renascor.
Renascor has also announced and executed off-take MoUs covering up to 60,000 tonnes per annum of PSG. In addition, Renascor continues to receive a significant volume of inbound enquiries from globally recognised international groups that are leaders in the battery supply chain.
Minister for Trade and Investment Stephen Patterson welcomed the collaboration between Renascor and POSCO, a world leader in the supply of lithium-ion battery materials.
“The Department for Trade and Investment’s North East Asia team, based out of Seoul, have been instrumental in working with Renascor on their Korean strategy and advancing discussions - with POSCO to support this project,” Minister Patterson said.
“I congratulate Renascor and POSCO on this significant strategic cooperation which aligns with Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategy and the National Manufacturing Priority Roadmap.
“This is a significant investment by Renascor in South Australia and provides our state with a new opportunity as the only graphite purification and refining centre for the battery supply chain outside the northern hemisphere.”
Renascor aims to become one of the largest suppliers of low cost, 100 per cent Australian-made, sustainable and ethically sourced PSG’s for the lithium-ion battery anode market, particularly within the electric vehicle supply chain. POSCO, Australia’s largest export customer and one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates with a market capitalisation of over US$25billion, is the world’s largest steel-making company and one of the world’s largest suppliers of lithium-ion battery material.
Under the MOU framework, Renascor and POSCO will work together to undertake additional product validation with a view to concluding a formal and definitive agreement for the sale of PSG to POSCO and for potential further strategic cooperation between the two companies.
“We are delighted to be working with POSCO, who have an established track record of working with Australian companies, including most recently, Australian suppliers of battery minerals,” David Christensen, Renascor Managing Director said.
“The significant off-take requirements from POSCO represent a transformational step change for Renascor, as the demand from POSCO, including our existing off-take partners, not only fulfils our current capacity, but also warrants PSG capacity expansions through an increase of Stage 1 and an expanded Stage 2.
“The exceptional demand for Siviour PSG places Renascor in a strong position as we progress towards binding off-take agreements.”
To learn more about investment and partnership opportunities in South Australia, visit www.invest.sa.gov.au
