Namibia’s Okanjande graphite project could benefit from a newly launched, Germany-funded research and development programme aimed at building an independent and environmentally sustainable European supply chain for battery-grade graphite, according to project partners.
The initiative, known as USE-G: Environmentally Friendly and Safe Graphite Extraction for Europe’s Battery Industry, brings together Northern Graphite Corporation, Rain Carbon Germany GmbH, H.C. Starck Tungsten GmbH and Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
The three-year programme is largely funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, which is contributing €1.14 million to the total project budget of €1.70 million.
Announcing the launch of the programme, Northern Graphite chief executive officer Hugues Jacquemin said the initiative underscores Namibia’s potential role in future global battery supply chains.
“Europe’s energy transition depends on secure, sustainable and independent graphite supply chains. USE-G brings together leading European research and industrial expertise to develop processing technologies that are cleaner, less energy-intensive and aligned with circular-economy principles,” Jacquemin said.
He added that the programme demonstrates how natural graphite produced in Canada and Namibia could be transformed in Europe into next-generation battery materials.
USE-G officially commenced on 1 January 2026 and will run until 31 December 2029. The programme focuses on developing cleaner graphite processing technologies to reduce Europe’s heavy dependence on Chinese supply chains for battery materials.
Although all research, testing and processing activities will be carried out in Germany, Namibia features in the programme through Northern Graphite’s fully permitted Okanjande mine, which is currently on care and maintenance.
Under the initiative, Northern Graphite will supply natural graphite from its producing mine in Canada and, subject to a restart decision, from its Namibian operation. Both sources produce graphite certified as suitable for battery applications.
Graphite is a critical input in lithium-ion batteries, accounting for up to 40% of the active material in a typical anode. Despite rising demand, Europe remains almost entirely reliant on China for the purification, coating and shaping technologies required to convert natural graphite into battery-grade material.
USE-G aims to address this gap by developing a fully European-controlled processing route.
For Namibia, the programme represents a potential market-driven pathway to reviving the Okanjande project, which Northern Graphite has described as a large-scale, advanced-stage asset with lower costs and faster-to-market potential than many competing developments.
A central focus of the programme is the development of alternative purification technologies. Friedrich Schiller University Jena will lead research into chlorine-gas-based purification, which is expected to be cleaner than conventional hydrofluoric acid treatment and less energy-intensive than thermal purification.
“Our focus is to explore chlorine-gas purification at elevated temperatures as a cleaner alternative to hydrofluoric acid,” said Martin Oschatz, professor at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
“This research could enable Europe to adopt new purification routes that improve environmental performance without compromising material quality.”
The programme also incorporates graphite recycling, with H.C. Starck Tungsten contributing technology to recover graphite from battery black mass, which is typically destroyed during conventional recycling processes.
“Although graphite accounts for a substantial share of battery black mass, it has scarcely been reused to date,” said Alexander Zeugner, Project Manager for Technology and Innovation at H.C. Starck Tungsten.
“If successful, this project would make a significant contribution to establishing a true circular economy for lithium-ion batteries in Europe.”
