Harper International announced that its project in support of PUREgraphite, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Novonix Ltd., has been selected to receive a $5,577,738 grant under the Advanced Manufacturing Office FY20 Critical Minerals FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement): Next-Generation Technologies and Field Validation. The multi-year project, “High Efficiency Continuous Graphitization Furnace Technology for Lithium-Ion Battery Synthetic Graphite Material,” will focus on development of proprietary furnace technology under the previously announced strategic alliance with Novonix. The grant covers engineering, construction and installation of new processing equipment at the PUREgraphite plant.

Paul Elwell, Harper International vice president, said, “We are delighted by the selection of this innovation project by the U.S. Department of Energy. This decision highlights the significance of our close collaboration with the lithium-ion battery material specialists at PUREgraphite as we develop and validate next-generation thermal-processing technologies to address the nation’s critical supply chain needs.”

This U.S. Department of Energy FOA specifically highlighted processing of battery-critical minerals, including synthetic graphite. The full list of recipients can be found on the DOE’s website.