Renascor Resources Ltd (ASX: RNU) shares are charging higher today.
Again.
The ASX resource explorer was up 4% at lunchtime today, trading for 36 cents per share at the time of writing.
That puts Renascor Resources shares up a phenomenal 900% since this time last year.
So what's been driving investor interest?
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Why have Renascor Resources shares become so hot?
Renascor Resources shares have gotten a series of boosts over the past year.
Back in March the investors rewarded the company after it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hanwa Co Ltd, amongst the biggest traders of battery chemicals in the Asian region. Under the MOU, the company will supply up to 10,000 tonnes of purified spherical graphite (PSG) per year for 10 years.
Renascor continued its strong run into the springtime when it announced another MOU, this one with South Korean conglomerate POSCO. That agreement will see Renascor supply POSCO with 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of PSG per year.
Following that up, the company reported the successful completion of its large-scale pilot flotation trials. As The Motley Fool reported at the time:
The trials were testing the upstream component of Renascor's planned graphite mine and battery anode material manufacturing operation. Over the course of the trials, 77.8 tonnes of ore from the Siviour deposit were processed into high purity graphite concentrates. Renascor plans to use it as feedstock to produce its purified spherical graphite.
Following closely on this announcement, Renascor Resources shares got another big lift after the Australian federal government granted Major Project Status for the company's Siviour Graphite Project, located in South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.
And the good news kept flowing into 2022.
Last week the company got another share price lift when it revealed it had scored a $185 million government loan to develop the Siviour Project.
How has Renascor performed this year?
Up 900% in 12 months, Renascor Resources shares have continued to impress in 2022, gaining 94% year to date.
By comparison the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is down 5% in the New Year.
