Evion recognised by US Department of Defense

Evion Group (ASX: EVG) has been accepted as a member of the US Department of Defense’s public-private consortium, established to strengthen the country’s manufacturing and defence industrial base.

The membership directly aligns Evion’s Nevada fluorspar and downstream graphite platform with US supply chain priorities and allows the company to respond to competitive Department of Defense solicitations issued to consortium members.

*The consortium is managed by the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center and Army Contracting Command.*

Acceptance follows execution of a cornerstone management agreement and places Evion inside a Department of Defense framework specifically designed to identify and close capability gaps and supply chain vulnerabilities across the US industrial base.

The US currently imports the vast majority of its graphite concentrates, as well as all other downstream graphite products, and imports 100% of its fluorspar requirements.

managing director David Round says the US imports every tonne of fluorspar it consumes, with graphite not far behind.

“Washington has been explicit that it intends to fix that, and it has built the funding architecture to do it,” he said.

“Our job is to be positioned, credible and known when those requirements come out, and this is a deliberate step toward that.”

Evion says membership is a further step in its US Government affairs strategy, following the appointment of former Australian Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos as strategic advisor and the company’s articulation of its downstream critical materials strategy.

Evion is developing graphite and industrial mineral assets across Madagascar, India, Europe and the US.

In the US, Evion holds an exclusive option over the CARP fluorspar project in Lincoln County, Nevada, which is a historically producing, high-grade asset in a Tier 1 jurisdiction.

Evion’s flagship Maniry graphite project in Madagascar is recognised by the European Union as a strategic project under its Critical Raw Materials Act. Evion says the project has a clear pathway towards mining and development with a completed bankable feasibility study and secured mining permits.

The company also holds a 50% interest in the Panthera Graphite Technologies downstream processing joint venture in India, which commenced shipments of expandable graphite to the US and Europe in 2025

“Cornerstone is where the US Department of Defense actually does its industrial base work,” Mr Round said.

“Being inside it means we see the requirements when they are issued and we are eligible to respond to them.

“For a company with a domestic [US] fluorspar asset and an operating non-China graphite processing business, that is exactly where we want to be.”