Jan 19 (Reuters) - Australia's Syrah Resources said on Monday it agreed with Tesla to extend for the third time a ​deadline to resolve an alleged breach of their graphite supply ‌agreement.

The 2021 agreement to supply 8,000 metric tons of graphite a year over four ‌years is key to Syrah’s Vidalia, Louisiana operations and the company's strategy to become the first major non‑Chinese supplier of the metal to the United States.

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Texas-heaquartered Tesla issued the first default notice in July 2025, saying ⁠Syrah had failed to ‌deliver conforming active anode material samples from its Vidalia processing facility for use in electric‑vehicle batteries.

The companies have ‍now agreed to push the cure deadline to March 16, 2026, subject to approval from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The original September 16 deadline was extended ​to November 15 before it was pushed to January 16.

"While Syrah ‌does not accept it is in default under the offtake agreement, the parties have extended the cure date to March 16, 2026 and are closely collaborating to cure the alleged default," the Australian miner said in a statement.

The Vidalia facility is the only vertically integrated, large-scale ⁠anode material producer outside China, offering ​an alternative to Chinese supplies that dominate ​the market.

Tesla, led by the world's richest person, Elon Musk, also retains the right to terminate the supply deal ‍if the active anode ⁠material supplied by Syrah does not meet its technical specifications by February 9.

Shares of the graphite producer fell 6.6% to A$0.285 ⁠in early trade on Monday, hitting their lowest level since December 22, while ‌the broader mining sub-index was up 0.6%.

(Reporting by Shruti Agarwal ‌in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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