Chain
Purification
Purification upgrades mined flake concentrate to the high carbon purity that battery processing requires — the first midstream stage of the natural route, sitting between the mine and particle shaping. The stage is concentrated in China, which both mines most of the world's natural graphite and refines most of the world's graphite supply.
Stage diagram
China mined an estimated 78% of the world's natural graphite in 2024 and accounted for an estimated 92% of global refined graphite supply, natural and synthetic combined (BloombergNEF 2024E, per DOE) — purification capacity outside China is the natural route's binding constraint, and DOE notes the 92% figure likely understates the true share because it excludes Chinese-owned operations abroad.
Materials at this stage: Natural graphite concentrate, Purified flake graphite
Facility-line flow trace
| Facility / line | Location | Stage and derived state | Input → output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graphite One Graphite Creek Project | Graphite Creek, north of Nome, Alaska | Mining & feedstock Announced | Graphite ore → Natural graphite concentrate |
| Kilbourne Graphite Purification Plant, Anniston Army Depot | Anniston, Alabama | Purification Announced | Natural graphite concentrate → Purified flake graphite |
| Kilbourne Graphite Purification Plant, Anniston Army Depot | Anniston, Alabama | Anode finishing Announced | Purified flake graphite → Coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) |
| Kilbourne Graphite Purification Plant, Pine Bluff Arsenal | Pine Bluff, Arkansas | Purification Announced | Natural graphite concentrate → Purified flake graphite |
| Kilbourne Graphite Purification Plant, Pine Bluff Arsenal | Pine Bluff, Arkansas | Anode finishing Announced | Purified flake graphite → Coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) |
| Syrah Vidalia Active Anode Material Facility | Vidalia, Louisiana | Purification | Natural graphite concentrate → Purified flake graphite |
| Syrah Vidalia Active Anode Material Facility | Vidalia, Louisiana | Particle processing | Purified flake graphite → Uncoated spherical graphite |
| Urbix Muscle Shoals CSPG Facility | Muscle Shoals, Alabama | Anode finishing Announced | Natural graphite concentrate → Coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) |
| Westwater Kellyton Graphite Plant | Kellyton, Alabama | Anode finishing Under construction | Natural graphite concentrate → Coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) |
| Westwater Kellyton Graphite Plant | Kellyton, Alabama | Anode finishing | Natural graphite concentrate → Coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) |
| EcoGraf Battery Anode Material Facility, Western Australia | Site not named in any source loaded 2026-08-12, Western Australia | Purification Financed | Natural graphite concentrate → Uncoated spherical graphite |
| Graphinex Townsville Graphite-to-Anode Demonstration Facility | Townsville, Queensland | Purification | Natural graphite concentrate → Purified flake graphite |
| Graphinex Townsville Graphite-to-Anode Demonstration Facility | Townsville, Queensland | Anode finishing | Purified flake graphite → Coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) |
| International Graphite Collie Micronising Facility | Collie, Western Australia | Particle processing | Natural graphite concentrate → Natural graphite concentrate |
| International Graphite Collie Micronising Facility | Collie, Western Australia | Particle processing Financed | Natural graphite concentrate → Natural graphite concentrate |
| Renascor Purified Spherical Graphite Facility, Bolivar | Bolivar, South Australia | Purification Commissioned | Natural graphite concentrate → Uncoated spherical graphite |
| Renascor Purified Spherical Graphite Facility, Bolivar | Bolivar, South Australia | Purification Financed | Natural graphite concentrate → Purified flake graphite |
| Renascor Purified Spherical Graphite Facility, Bolivar | Bolivar, South Australia | Particle processing Financed | Purified flake graphite → Uncoated spherical graphite |
| Renascor Siviour Graphite Mine and Concentrator | Arno Bay, South Australia | Mining & feedstock Financed | → Natural graphite concentrate, Natural graphite concentrate |
| Lomiko Metals La Loutre Graphite Project | La Loutre property, 180 km northwest of Montréal, Québec | Mining & feedstock Announced | Graphite ore → Natural graphite concentrate |
| NMG Bécancour Battery Material Plant | Bécancour, Québec | Purification Announced | Natural graphite concentrate → Purified flake graphite |
| NMG Bécancour Battery Material Plant | Bécancour, Québec | Particle processing Announced | Purified flake graphite → Uncoated spherical graphite |
| NMG Matawinie Graphite Mine | Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Québec | Mining & feedstock Under construction | Graphite ore → Natural graphite concentrate |
| Northern Graphite Lac des Îles Mine | Lac-des-Îles, Québec | Mining & feedstock Idled | Graphite ore → Natural graphite concentrate |
| Fortum Battery Recycling Harjavalta Hydrometallurgical Plant | Harjavalta, Satakunta | Recycling | Blended anode material, Lithium-Ion Battery Black Mass → Natural graphite concentrate, Recycled Lithium-Bearing Process Solution |
| NGC Battery Materials BAM Plant (France, site not stated in source) | — | Purification Announced | Natural graphite concentrate → Uncoated spherical graphite |
| Orano Battery Recycling Pilots (Bessines-sur-Gartempe) | Bessines-sur-Gartempe, Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Recycling Commissioned | Blended anode material, Lithium-Ion Battery Black Mass → Natural graphite concentrate, Recycled Lithium-Bearing Process Solution |
| Tokai COBEX Savoie BAM4EVER Battery Anode Material Plant (Vénissieux) | Vénissieux (30 rue Louis Jouvet, 69200), Département du Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Particle processing | Natural graphite concentrate → Synthetic anode material |
| Syrah Balama Graphite Operation | Balama, Cabo Delgado | Mining & feedstock | Graphite ore → Natural graphite concentrate |
| NorGraph Active Anode Materials Plant (Eyde Material Park, Arendal) | Longum Nord, Eyde Material Park, Arendal, Agder | Anode finishing Announced | Natural graphite concentrate → Coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) |
| Talga Luleå Anode Refinery and EVA Qualification Plant | Luleå, Norrbotten | Anode finishing | Natural graphite concentrate → Coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) |
| Talga Luleå Anode Refinery and EVA Qualification Plant | Luleå, Norrbotten | Purification Announced | Natural graphite concentrate → Purified flake graphite |
| Talga Luleå Anode Refinery and EVA Qualification Plant | Luleå, Norrbotten | Particle processing Announced | Purified flake graphite → Uncoated spherical graphite |
| Talga Nunasvaara South Graphite Mine (Vittangi) | Nunasvaara South, near Vittangi, Kiruna Municipality, Norrbotten | Mining & feedstock Permitted | Graphite ore → Natural graphite concentrate |
| Altilium ACT3 Black-Mass Refinery (Plymouth) | Plymouth, Devon | Recycling Financed | Blended anode material → Natural graphite concentrate |
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey · published Mar 1, 2025 · retrieved Aug 12, 2026 · archive unavailable: Wayback verification blocked by archive.org outage on 2026-08-12; recheck on a weekly pass
- U.S. Department of Energy · published Dec 1, 2024 · retrieved Aug 12, 2026 · archive unavailable: Wayback verification blocked by archive.org outage on 2026-08-12; recheck on a weekly pass