Northern Graphite has announced that its proposal to upgrade graphite from the Okanjande project into Battery Anode Material (BAM) in France has been selected as one of 47 Strategic Projects under the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).
This recognition underscores the project’s importance in supporting the EU’s battery raw material value chain.
The proposal, submitted last year by Northern Graphite’s Battery Materials Division based in Frankfurt, aims to upgrade battery-grade graphite from the Okanjande project into BAM at a dedicated facility in France.
The total project cost is estimated at approximately N$3 billion (€159 million / C$244 million). The scope includes pre-purification, milling, and shaping of the graphite in Namibia, followed by purification and coating processes at a new plant in France.
Battery testing for the upgraded material will be conducted at Northern Graphite’s laboratory in Germany.
The mining operations at Okanjande are not part of this Strategic Project designation. The CRMA covers 14 of the 17 strategic raw materials essential for the EU’s battery supply chain, including lithium (22 projects), nickel (12 projects), cobalt (10 projects), manganese (7 projects), and graphite (11 projects).
As part of the initiative, the European Commission’s designation will facilitate fast-tracked permitting and funding support for the Okanjande project, helping to enhance Europe’s strategic raw material capacities and diversify supply sources.
Northern Graphite’s France-based BAM project is set to begin operations by 2028, with an initial capacity of 20,000 tons per year of battery-grade anode material.
There is potential to scale this up to 50,000 tons. The company is actively engaged in discussions with potential off-take partners for its initial production phase.
