Westwater Announces Excellent Results from Independent Tests on Spherical Purified Graphite (SPG) from the Coosa Graphite Project
April 11, 2019
Coosa Graphite Shows “Near Theoretical” Performance
CENTENNIAL, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24WWR&src=ctag" target="_blank"gt;$WWRlt;/agt; lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/graphite?src=hash" target="_blank"gt;#graphitelt;/agt;–Westwater Resources, Inc. (“Westwater,” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:
WWR), an energy materials development company, is pleased to
provide the independent test results from long-term cycling data
conducted on uncoated, spherical purified graphite (SPG) from the
Company’s Coosa Graphite Project.
Christopher M. Jones, President and CEO of Westwater Resources, stated,
“We are pleased with the performance of our spherical graphite materials
from the Coosa Graphite Project located in Alabama. In short, we have
produced products for independent testing, these products have performed
as designed, and this milestone achievement demonstrates some of the
potential of our flagship Coosa Graphite Project. Long-term cycling data
is useful for battery manufacturers and provides insights into the
parameters that can help us continually improve the performance of our
graphite products including our coated spherical purified graphite, thus
developing a broader customer base.”
HIGHLIGHTS
-
“Near theoretical” reversible capacity
was achieved as 370.11 mAh/g on the first cycle. -
Purification, micronization, spheronization and sizing was performed
on the natural flake graphite from our Coosa Graphite Project
utilizing the Company’s proprietary process. The purity level achieved
was 99.95 wt%. -
Optimization on electrode formulation was achieved to extend the
cycling performance. Testing under prolonged cycling conditions showed
that SPG from the Coosa Graphite Project demonstrated stable
performance over 150 cycles.
TEST SUMMARY
-
SPG grades were formulated into battery grade coatings and cast on
copper foil. -
Industry standard CR2016 coin cells were assembled and tested using
graphite as the anode versus Li/Li+ counter electrode
assembly (half cell). - Low temperature LP81 electrolyte was utilized in the cells.
-
The upper and lower voltage limits during cycling were 0.01 V and 2 V
vs Li/Li+. Charging and discharging current rate was C/20. -
The properties of SPG from the Coosa Graphite Project are presented in
the Table below.
|
PARAMETER |
VALUE (UNITS) |
||||||||
|
TRADE NAME |
ULTRA-SPG | ||||||||
|
LOSS ON IGNITION |
> 99.95 (wt%) | ||||||||
|
ASH% |
< 0.05 (wt%) | ||||||||
|
SCOTT VOLUME |
0.51 (g/cm3) | ||||||||
|
TAP DENSITY |
0.91 (g/cm3) | ||||||||
|
BET SURFACE AREA |
6.32 m2/g | ||||||||
|
D50 |
18.6 (micrometre) | ||||||||
-
Reversible capacity, irreversible capacity and irreversible capacity
loss are the most critical metrics for measuring battery performance.
These parameters are obtained after the first charge and discharge
cycle.a. Reversible capacity: 370.11 mAh/g. Considering
that 372 mAh/g is a theoretical maximum for natural graphite, the
result is “near theoretical” performance.b. Irreversible
capacity: 416.7 mAh/g. This is the initial charge capacity.c.
Irreversible capacity loss (ICL): 11.2%. Although this value is
acceptable, typical ICL values are less than 10%. However, the
irreversible capacity reported here was achieved in a non-optimized
low temperature electrolyte composition, and varying the amount of
vinylene carbonate can drive the ICL value to the desired goal. -
The long-term cycling was performed on various formulations to
determine the optimum electrode composition, calendared electrode
density, active material loading and electrolyte formulation. These
optimizations have resulted with stable cycling up to 150 cycles.
Irreversible capacity loss after 150 cycles was low.
About Westwater Resources
WWR is focused on developing energy-related materials. The Company’s
battery-materials projects include the Coosa Graphite Project — the most
advanced natural flake graphite project in the contiguous United States
— and the associated Coosa Graphite Mine located across 41,900 acres
(~17,000 hectares) in east-central Alabama. In addition, the Company
maintains lithium mineral properties in three prospective lithium brine
basins in Nevada and Utah. Westwater’s uranium projects are located in
Texas and New Mexico. In Texas, the Company has two licensed and
currently idled uranium processing facilities and approximately 11,000
acres (~4,400 hectares) of prospective in-situ recovery uranium
projects. In New Mexico, the Company controls mineral rights
encompassing approximately 188,700 acres (~76,000 hectares) in the
prolific Grants Mineral Belt, which is one of the largest concentrations
of sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the world. Incorporated in 1977
as Uranium Resources, Inc., Westwater also owns an extensive uranium
information database of historic drill hole logs, assay certificates,
maps and technical reports for the western United States. For more
information, visit www.westwaterresources.net.
Cautionary Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are
identified by words such as “expects,” “estimates,” “projects,”
“anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” and other similar words. All
statements addressing events or developments that WWR expects or
anticipates will occur in the future, including but not limited to
statements relating to the future performance of the Company’s spherical
purified graphite, from the Coosa Graphite Project or otherwise, are
forward-looking statements. Because they are forward-looking, they
should be evaluated in light of important risk factors and
uncertainties. These risk factors and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, (a) the Company’s ability to successfully integrate Alabama
Graphite Corporation’s business into its own, and the risk that
additional analysis of the Coosa Graphite Project may result in
revisions to the findings of WWR’s initial optimization study; (b) the
Company’s ability to raise additional capital in the future; (c) spot
price and long-term contract price of graphite, lithium, vanadium and
uranium; (d) risks associated with our domestic operations; (e)
operating conditions at the Company’s projects; (f) government and
tribal regulation of the graphite industry, the lithium industry, the
vanadium industry, the uranium industry, and the power industry; (g)
world-wide graphite, lithium, vanadium and uranium supply and demand,
including the supply and demand for lithium-based batteries; (h)
maintaining sufficient financial assurance in the form of sufficiently
collateralized surety instruments; (i) unanticipated geological,
processing, regulatory and legal or other problems the Company may
encounter in the jurisdictions where the Company operates or intends to
operate, including in Alabama, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada; (j)
the ability of the Company to enter into and successfully close
acquisitions or other material transactions; (k) the results of the
Company’s lithium brine exploration activities at the Columbus Basin,
Railroad Valley, and Sal Rica projects, and the possibility that future
exploration results may be materially less promising than initial
exploration result; (I) any graphite, lithium, vanadium or uranium
discoveries not being in high-enough concentration to make it economic
to extract the metals; (m) currently pending or new litigation or
arbitration; and (n) other factors which are more fully described in the
Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q,
and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should
one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should any of
the Company’s underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may
vary materially from those currently anticipated. In addition, undue
reliance should not be placed on the Company’s forward-looking
statements. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any
obligation to update or publicly announce any revisions to any of the
forward-looking statements contained in this news release. The results
of the initial optimization study are preliminary in nature and subject
to revision following WWR’s further analysis of the Coosa Graphite
Project.
Contacts
Westwater Resources Contact:
Christopher M. Jones, President
& CEO
Phone: 303.531.0480
Jeff Vigil, VP Finance & CFO
Phone:
303.531.0481
Email: Info@WestwaterResources.net
Investor
Relations Contact:
Michael Porter
Porter, LeVay and Rose
Phone:
212.564.4700
Email: Westwater@plrinvest.com

