Graphene Manufacturing Group says it has signed a non-binding agreement to collaborate on energy saving and storage solution with Rio Tinto.
Together, GMG and Rio Tinto are set to explore the use of energy-saving products in Rio’s operations, explore working together to support GMG’s development of Graphene Aluminium-Ion (G+Al) batteries, and collaborate on mining and other industrial applications.
Under a non-binding term sheet, GMG says it and Rio Tinto will:
- Discuss conducting trials of GMG’s energy-saving products in both existing applications and new industrial applications, to deliver energy savings and associated carbon reductions to support Rio Tinto’s decarbonisation objectives;
- Explore supply of aluminium materials, one of the key components in G+Al battery technology, by Rio Tinto to GMG with an aim to optimise and accelerate battery development; and
- Investigate the use of G+Al batteries in various Rio Tinto mining and industrial applications. Success could see significant performance enhancements and support Rio Tinto’s transition to low carbon operations.
Rio Tinto’s Chief Scientist, Nigel Steward, said: “Our companies share a vision of a low carbon future and we see great potential in the partnership. We aim to develop a truly green battery from our low carbon aluminium, which could transform the way we supply and store energy to anything from a leaf blower to a mining haul truck. It is a very exciting prospect and we are looking forward to bringing together the technical ingenuity of both Rio Tinto and GMG.”
GMG’s Managing Director and CEO, Craig Nicol, added: “We are excited to be collaborating with Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining companies who are committed to leveraging leading technologies for efficient and low carbon operations. The collaboration with Rio Tinto adds another key element in GMG’s leading partnerships to develop our G+Al Battery following recent agreements with Wood for scaling graphene production and Bosch for automated battery production. Rio Tinto’s supply of aluminium and development of material industrial battery applications also add to our battery development plans.
“Together, with the partnerships already established, this is another important step towards GMG’s goal to become a major global supplier of energy saving products as well as G+AI Batteries as we continue to de-risk the commercial scale up of this technology.”
GMG says lab testing and experiments have, so far, shown that the G+AI Battery energy storage technology has high energy densities and higher power densities compared with current leading marketplace lithium-ion battery technology – which means it will give longer battery life (up to three times) and charge much faster (up to 60 times).
