Sep. 9, 2024 - The South Korean component manufacturer POSCO is investing USD 40 million in the Australian mining company Black Rock Mining (BRM). This will enable POSCO to secure large quantities of graphite from BRM's mine in Tanzania.

As part of the transaction, POSCO International acquired around 16.5% of Black Rock Mining. As the company already held a small stake in Black Rock Mining, the Group now owns 19.9% of Black Rock Mining.

Graphite is a key material for the production of anodes, one of the four core components of electric car batteries. By investing in BRM, POSCO has secured access to 30,000 tons of graphite annually in 2026 and 2027 and 60,000 tons of graphite annually in the years thereafter. The latter would be enough to supply graphite for the batteries of 1.26 million electric cars per year.

The graphite comes from Black Rock Mining’s Mahenge project in Tanzania, which has over six million tons of graphite reserves and is said to be the second-largest deposit in the world. The mining company plans to start mining this year and commence regular production in 2026.

The deal also includes POSCO’s right to sell the graphite to third parties, which is expected to help boost South Korea’s competitiveness in the race to secure key minerals.

“POSCO Group will actively use our varied business portfolio and global network to continuously discover businesses that can raise global competitiveness in key fields like steelmaking and secondary batteries, and build a stable supply chain that can contribute to national security,” said POSCO Holdings Chairman In-Hwa Chang.