Thanks, Skorpian and Pedro14 for pointing out that Syrah, with its established management-in-depth, has the resources to staff its operations, and (hopefully) to fix its problems as they arise. In that, they differentiate from virtually all the other graphite hopefuls, worldwide, at the moment. Indeed, that is one of the features that leaves Syrah, alone, as the developer, and future supplier, of the high-grade graphite market.
And the interesting thing is that the graphite market, especially for battery applications, has not gone away. In today's issue of "The Australian", there is a discussion of the lithium area, suggesting that the rush of new companies into the area, both hard-rock and salar deposits, could lead to an oversupply if the battery market does not grow as fast as some expect. (See
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/bu...y/news-story/ab5924aff4e93360a128e2533ac16317)
But nobody is disputing that there will be a rapid growth in demand. This simply endorses the strong future of graphite, as the anode end of the battery, regardless of who supplies the lithium. And with no other major graphite mines currently (it appears) able to raise finance, that leaves Syrah, with its massive development lead, and bottom-of-the-cost-curve resource, in what can only be described as the best box seat in town.
For some years to come, the battery makers will be able to choose from suppliers in a hotly-contested lithium market, but, when it comes to graphite for their anodes, they will have just one place to go.
Cheers.
