EU anoints Sarytogan graphite venture a strategic project
Sarytogan Graphite's flagship project in Kazakhstan is among the first group of 13 projects outside the European Union to win EU backing as a strategic project to secure its critical raw materials supply.
The company's massive 229-million-tonne venture, which averages 28.9 per cent total graphitic carbon for 66Mt of graphite, has been accorded strategic project status under the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act.
The Act designates strategic projects that will enable the EU to maintain or expand its capacity to extract, process and recycle critical raw materials, to diversify its supply sources and improve the reliability and security of its strategic materials supplies.
It follows a 2022 memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the EU and the Kazakh government to deepen cooperation and achieve closer integration of sustainable value chains in critical raw materials, batteries and renewable hydrogen.
'The strategic project status validates Sarytogan's natural graphite deposit as world-class.'
Sarytogan Graphite managing director Sean Gregory
The MoU seeks to bring together Kazakhstan's extensive critical raw materials potential and the EU's expertise in mining, processing, recycling and battery and hydrogen technologies.
The EU's strategic project status is applied to projects which are – or are expected to become - technically feasible within a reasonable timeframe.
They must also demonstrate the capacity to meet expected production volumes and can be brought to sustainable production with a high level of confidence.
The strategic projects will be presented and discussed within a financing subgroup of the EU's critical raw materials board, which can offer advice on project financing, including private and public funding sources.
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