Walkabout Resources joins European Raw Materials Alliance

Walkabout Resources Ltd (ASX:WKT) (FRA:N6D) has been accepted into the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA), a membership, which aligns with the company’s commitment to improve the resilience of critical supply chains and energy security.  With graphite included on the 2020 European Commission’s list of 30 critical raw materials, and Lindi Jumbo set to be the second-highest margin graphite project in the world, the relationship enables Walkabout to collaborate with European Union end users, financiers and stakeholders of lithium-ion battery technologies.  “Ideal platform to collaborate with industry specialists” The alignment with ERMA connects Walkabout to key market intelligence as well as industry, innovation, academic and financial institutions - and provides support for the company’s strategy to further diversify graphite sales agreements. Walkabout chief executive officer Andrew Cunningham said: “With prestart construction activity underway at our Lindi Jumbo Graphite Mine, and with natural graphite named one of 30 critical raw materials on the European Commission’s list in 2020, the company is delighted to be accepted into the European Raw Materials Alliance. “The Alliance is the ideal platform to collaborate with industry specialists in Europe and to support efforts to secure future supply of an alternative new source of graphite through strategic partnerships while making a lasting and meaningful economic contribution to the region of origin.” Reliance of clean and digital technologies on critical raw materials. Source: Action Plan for Critical Raw Materials, ERMA, 3 September 2020. Securing raw materials supply ERMA was established by the EU with the aim to diversify and secure raw materials sourcing from third countries and remove distortions to international trade, fully respecting the EU’s international obligations. Currently, Europe is vulnerable due to excessive dependence on single supply countries or where one country dominates the supply chain of certain critical materials. Natural graphite is firmly entrenched in clean and digital technologies, which are heavily dependent on critical raw materials, with additional material consumption of graphite in all applications predicted by ERMA to increase by 14 times by 2050. The Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials by the European Commission states that the reliable, secure, and sustainable access to Critical Raw Materials is a precondition for Europe’s Green Deal and for industrial leadership of Europe in the technologies of the future. ERMA is tasked with securing primary and secondary raw materials supply for EU industrial ecosystems and is the ideal platform to bring together all the relevant stakeholders along the entire value chain - including EU member states and regions, trade unions, research and technology organisations, investors and NGOs.