An interesting press release landed on my desk the other day.<\/p>\n
According to the press release, China\u2019s Chalieco, the engineering division of Chinalco, has signed an agreement with an Australian company for the supply of graphite from a mine in Mozambique. \u00a0 The press release was issued by the miner, a company called Syrah Resources, and in it, they say that Chalieco plans to use the graphite for the production of anodes for the aluminium industry, among other things.<\/p>\n
If Chalieco is going to start using graphite in anodes, even in blend proportions, they are introducing their cousins in Chalco to a world of serious potential pain.<\/p>\n
Graphite has superior properties to petroleum coke, especially in relation to the electricity that passes through the anode. \u00a0 Graphite has a lower resistance to electricity, and allows the electricity to pass through more easily than petcoke does. \u00a0 Graphite has less impurities than petcoke, so there is less to get into the pure aluminium metal that is generated by the electrical process.<\/p>\n
All sounds good, so what\u2019s the problem? \u00a0 Actually, there are several problems, real and potential. \u00a0 In the first place, graphite is more expensive than petcoke, and this material will have to be imported from Mozambique.<\/p>\n
But the problems are not just economic ones. \u00a0 \u00a0Graphite expands at a different rate to petcoke when heat is applied to it. \u00a0 If you have some part of the anode expanding at a different rate than the rest of it, you open yourself to problems of cracked anodes. \u00a0 Second, you need to make sure that you have exactly the same amount of graphite in every anode in the pot. \u00a0 If you don\u2019t, then each anode will perform slightly differently, and eventually the pot will become unstable. \u00a0 Finally, although you gain the improved\/lower electrical resistance, you only gain that benefit for the proportion of the anode that contains the graphite, meaning the net result in operating costs is tiny, and not worth the increased cost of raw materials.<\/p>\n
And all these problems are being introduced into a company that has a poor record when it comes to anode manufacturing and pot operations.<\/p>\n
The press release was written by the folks at Syrah Resources, who seem to have taken Chalieco at their word*. \u00a0 In the press release, another purpose for the graphite was listed as being for production of the cathode \u2013 the electrical terminal at the bottom of the pot. \u00a0 Graphite is already used in some cathodes, and China\u2019s graphite industry verges on being a State Secret \u2013 it is tied up by a small number of players, with complete opacity. \u00a0 But the same question remains \u2013 why bother importing graphite all the way from Mozambique?<\/p>\n
I hope that Syrah Resources has received Chalieco\u2019s payments on this deal.<\/p>\n
* The press release also says that the aluminium industry uses 13 million tonnes of anodes a year, at a rate of 560 kgs per tonne of metal produced. \u00a0 Really? \u00a0 \u00a0In China maybe, and at an old smelter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An interesting press release landed on my desk the other day. According to the press release, China\u2019s Chalieco, the engineering division of Chinalco, has signed an agreement with an Australian company for the supply of graphite from a mine in Mozambique. \u00a0 The press release was issued by the miner, a company called Syrah Resources, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[168],"tags":[174,175],"class_list":{"0":"post-502","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-primary-aluminium","7":"tag-chalieco","8":"tag-syrah-resources"},"yoast_head":"\n