07:40 AM EDT, 06/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- South Star Battery Metals ( STSBF ) overnight Monday announced its selection by the Brazilian government's Transformation of Strategic Minerals funding initiative to increase the supply of certain critical minerals.

The company, which will work with Brazilian government agencies to assess the best potential financial structures for future funding, presented a work program and conceptual business plan for Santa Cruz Phase 2 and 3 expansions as well as the downstream transformation of graphite in Brazil for industrial and energy transition sectors.

Santa Cruz Phase 1 is the first new graphite production in the Americas since 1996 and is fully licensed and permitted through Phases 2 and 3, enabling total production capacity of up to 50,000 tonnes per year of Brazilian graphite concentrates.

A maiden shipment of graphite concentrates from Santa Cruz left the mine on June 5th, and is enroute to North America. This significant milestone marks the transition of South Star into commercial production. The next orders are being produced and are planned to ship shortly, a statement said.

"As a leading global producer of critical minerals, Brazil plays a pivotal role in supplying the metals essential for defense, industrial, energy transition, and stationary storage applications," said Chief Executive Richard Pearce.