• SML provides certainty and is a key regulatory permit required for Epanko financing
• SML733/2025 granted for 25 years, with mining area almost doubled to 18.9 km2
• Epanko is the largest development-ready graphite Mineral Resource in Africa

EcoGraf Limited (ASX: EGR; FSE: FMK) is pleased to announce the granting of a life-of-mine Epanko Graphite Project (Epanko or the Project) Special Mining Licence (SML) by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania on 3 March 2025. The SML provides certainty and is a key regulatory permit required in respect of the Epanko financing process. SML733/2025 was granted on 3 March 2025 for 25 years, and the mining area has almost doubled from 9.6 km2 to 18.9 km2, covering a continuous 5.5 km strike length of the Epanko graphite deposit where the orebody averages 200m wide. The grant of the SML is a major milestone in the development of Epanko and a key requirement for the financing process to support the stage 1 development, which includes the 73,000 tpa graphite processing plant. EcoGraf has mandated KfW IPEX-Bank to undertake advisory, structuring and arranging services to obtain import credit cover (UFK Cover) and arrange a senior debt facility (UFK Tranche) of up to US$105 million for the construction of the Epanko Graphite Project in Tanzania. The new SML will be sufficient to allow for a multi-generational operation at an expanded production capacity, with plans underway to define a staged expansion pathway to achieve production and to meet the forecast growth in demand for natural graphite anode material for the global electric mobility and clean energy storage markets. The Epanko Mineral Resource is 290.8Mt at 7.2% TGC, making it the largest development-ready graphite Mineral Resource in Africa, with an industry-leading 82% of total Ore Reserves classified as Proven.

EcoGraf has outlined plans to develop its Midstream development in Tanzania, which will mechanically shape Epanko's natural flake graphite into Spherical Graphite (SPG) for use in battery anode materials. The Midstream development is an additional investment and supports the Tanzanian Ministry of Minerals' '2030 Value-Addition' strategy, and is positioned to be the first graphite value-addition project in Tanzania and one of the first in Africa.