Australian junior Castle Minerals is fast-tracking its graphite production plans in Ghana, as the country aims to become West Africa’s first critical minerals hub.
Castle announced a nonbinding term sheet with Ghana’s Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) for a $2 million investment to advance the Kambale graphite project. The funding will support the project through to a prefeasibility study, which will assess the potential for producing specialized natural graphite concentrates and value-added products used in manufacturing lithium-ion battery anodes for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems.
Castle’s Executive Chairman, Stephen Stone, highlighted that the Kambale project‘s fine flake graphite meets the strict specifications required for lithium-ion battery anode production, supported by extensive testwork. The project’s 22.4-million-tonne high-grade mineral resource is expected to sustain long-term production.
In addition to advancing the Kambale project, Castle Minerals is also set to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange, opening up additional in-country capital and investment opportunities.
The MIIF, which already has an alliance with Atlantic Lithium for its Ewoyaa lithium project, sees this investment as part of Ghana’s broader ambition to establish Sub-Saharan Africa’s first lithium-ion battery manufacturing hub, further integrating the country into the global electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.
MIIF CEO Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng emphasized that the deal strengthens Ghana’s position as a leading destination for mining investment in Africa, reinforcing the country’s role in the growing global EV market.