Renascor advances Australian graphite project with 99.97% purity result

Demonstration plant reaches battery-grade purity

Renascor Resources Limited (ASX:RNU) has cleared an important technical hurdle in its attempt to build an Australian mine-to-battery-anode-materials business, producing purified spherical graphite at 99.97% carbon purity from its Adelaide demonstration facility. The result came during batch trials using third-party spherical graphite and is intended to show that Renascor’s integrated hydrofluoric-acid-free purification process can achieve battery-grade purity at demonstration scale.

The result builds on the earlier 99.97% purity result, which also used third-party material rather than graphite from Renascor’s Siviour deposit. Each batch trial runs through the full purification circuit over roughly five days, with samples taken at each stage for laboratory analysis. Renascor said the individual process stages performed in line with design expectations, but the next step is more consequential: trials using Siviour graphite are planned this quarter.

Siviour trials precede larger operating campaigns

Further batch trials will use both third-party and Siviour feedstock to optimise operating parameters, test consistency and produce samples for prospective offtake partners. Renascor then plans multi-tonne trials involving extended continuous runs, including reagent and water recycling. Those campaigns are designed to generate the operating data needed for commercial plant design and cost validation, while producing larger quantities for customer qualification.

The commercial case currently rests partly on an estimated purification operating cost of about US$459 per tonne in 2026 dollars. That estimate applies only to the purification stage at a proposed 50,000-tonne-per-year facility and excludes spheronisation, logistics, financing and other costs outside the process. It is therefore a useful benchmark rather than a complete project cost. Renascor has a conditionally approved A$185 million loan facility from the Australian Government’s Critical Minerals Facility, while offtake and strategic-partner discussions remain ongoing rather than converted into a reported binding agreement.

Flat Hill copper targets move toward drilling

Renascor’s exploration portfolio also advanced at the Marree Project, where a high-resolution VTEM survey identified multiple conductive targets at Flat Hill. The targets include features near historical intersections such as 134 metres at 0.57% copper at Boorloo and 18 metres at 1.57% copper at Breaden Hill, as well as largely untested conductivity highs at Mayflower and West Willouran. Modelling places the targets at approximately 150 to 300 metres depth.

The survey extends the Flat Hill copper targeting program, but geophysical conductors are not mineral resources and drilling remains the necessary test. Planning is under way to target potential primary copper sulphide mineralisation associated with structural features. A binding Native Title Mining Agreement with the Arabana Aboriginal Corporation provides a framework for cultural heritage clearance surveys before on-ground exploration can proceed.

Cash provides room for the next phase

Renascor held approximately A$91.5 million in cash at 30 September, down from A$94.4 million at the previous quarter’s end. The Appendix 5B reported net cash used in operating activities of A$685,000, A$2.05 million used in investing activities and A$148,000 in lease-liability payments. At the quarter’s reported spending rate, the company calculated 81 quarters of available funding, although that mechanical estimate does not capture the potentially larger costs of commercial development.

The immediate milestones are now clear: demonstrate the process with Siviour graphite, sustain longer multi-tonne operating runs, advance customer qualification and clarify the financing package. On the exploration side, the timing and results of Flat Hill drilling will determine whether the new conductors mark a broader copper system or simply add attractive targets to an already long list.