The move comes as the company believes that graphite mining in Kropfmuehl has become feasible led by surging demand for high purity natural graphite and global price developments.
The annual capacity at the Kropfmuehl mine stands at about 25,000 tons of natural graphite and is expected to reach 300 tons in 2012, ramping up to about 1,300 tons in 2013 for global markets.
The graphite is sourced from the company’s mines in Africa and Asia including its other market sources while GK is also developing additional graphite deposits in order to raise its own raw material supply, including ongoing exploration projects in Mozambique.
