DOD enters agreement to expand domestic graphite supply chain

The Department of Defense announced a $3.2 million agreement with South Star Battery Metals Corporation to support domestic production of Coated, Spheronized, Purified Graphite (CSPG) at their BamaStar Graphite Project in Coosa County, Alabama.

"This is another example of the critical importance of the Defense Production Act investment authorities," says Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, ASD(IBP).  "As one of our first awards to a Canadian company in the battery materials sector, this award exemplifies our combined commitment to strengthening our battery material supply chains and global approach to industrial base resilience."

The agreement with South Star, entered under Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III authorities and using funds appropriated by the Inflation Reduction Act, will enable the company to perform a bankable feasibility study. The study will cover the entire process from mining to final production of CSPG, exploring both economic and environmental, social, and governance criteria. Upon successful completion of the bankable feasibility study, South Star plans to construct a downstream battery-grade processing facility in the southeast United States that would take concentrates from the BamaStar mine site and transform it into CSPG. This will be used as feedstock for domestic lithium-ion battery anode production, contributing to a more complete U.S.-based graphite anode supply chain.

To date in calendar year 2023, the DPAI Program has made 23 awards totaling $717.5 million. DPAI is overseen by the ASD(IBP)’s Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Program (MCEIP), in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience.