Myles McCormick reports that in the wake of the publication of an article in the U.S. media last week, Industrial Mins canvassed members of the graphite industry for reactions. Feelings were mixed. A trace of graphite is in consumer tech. In these Chinese villages, it is everywhere, began the article in the Washington Post in early October.
As part of a series looking at the darker side of battery mineral production, the U.S. newspaper ran a piece entitled ... In your phone, in their air, investigating issues of pollution in China graphite industry. The Post visited various Chinese villages and spoke to locals affected by pollution from graphite extraction and followed the supply chain from the mines in question to well-known battery and technology companies.
With China accounting for 67% of the global natural graphite production 2015, the country dominates the industry, according to IM latest Graphite Market Outlook to 2021 report. And as discussed by IM last year, the issue of pollution in its graphite industry is nothing new.
Basically, all these problems are known, Dominik Luh, managing director of graphite distributor Technografit GmbH, told IM. We know what is going on [in China] and, [in some cases,] it is even worse than what is described in the article.
Shishir Poddar, managing director at Tirupati Carbon and Chemicals, agreed that pollution has always been a concern with Chinese mines, as the production methods used in the mines are still primitive and little efforts have been made to upgrade the methods.
Stephen Riddle, of U.S.-based Asbury Carbons, told IM that improvements have been seen in the industry and should not be ignored. China has come a long way in their graphite. he did not think it is a given [that pollution is rife], but of course one can go to back-end mines and find problems, he told IM. His point of view is that the graphite industry is not as dirty for the environment compared to many mining industries.
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