Northern Graphite Accelerates Lac des Iles Mill Maintenance in Face of Rising Demand Temporary Shutdown for Maintenance and Repairs to Support Development of New Pit and Increased Production Capacity Customers to be Served from Existing Inventory to Avoid Disruptions
Northern Graphite Accelerates Lac des Iles
Mill Maintenance in Face of Rising Demand
Temporary Shutdown for Maintenance and Repairs to Support Development of New Pit
and Increased Production Capacity
Customers to be Served from Existing Inventory to Avoid Disruptions
Battery Division's Porocarb
®
Product Attracting Serious Interest from Battery Makers
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2024) - Northern Graphite Corporation
(TSXV: NGC)
(OTCQB: NGPHF) (FSE: 0NG) (XSTU: 0NG)
(the "
Company
" or "
Northern
") announces that the
Company will temporarily shut down its processing facility at Lac des Iles (
"LDI"
) in order to complete
repairs and maintenance and enable the mill to increase throughput to meet growing demand for natural
graphite sourced outside of China.
The shutdown will begin on November 2nd, with production estimated to resume on January 6, 2025. In
the interim, Northern will seek to mitigate any disruptions by supplying customers from inventories and
from third parties.
"In order to ensure increased, stable production in 2025 and beyond that can keep up with rising market
demand, we have decided to move forward the timeframe for a maintenance and repair shutdown," said
Chief Executive Officer Hugues Jacquemin. "Lac des Iles has the potential to produce more and for
longer than anticipated when we acquired the mine in 2022, and we need to prepare as we look to open
a new pit and increase throughput at the mill."
Growing output from the cornerstone LDI mine is critical to Northern's strategy as it works toward
becoming a vertically integrated, mine-to-market supplier to traditional downstream customers and to the
emerging market for battery anode material ("BAM") as well as for next generation all solid state battery
chemistries. The Company moved the LDI plant to a seven-days-a-week schedule in April of this year,
boosting output by 59 percent over subsequent months, and plans to increase output further after the
plant reopens in January.
Northern's mining division is currently running operational scenarios to open a new pit after a successful
2023 drilling campaign and a new resource estimate showed potential to significantly extend the mine
life of LDI. The Company is also planning a second drilling program with the goal of further expanding
resources to increase production.
Battery Materials Group
As Northern prepares to supply coming demand from North American battery markets, the Company
continues development of its battery materials portfolio and is advancing discussions with Original
Equipment Manufacturers ("OEMs") and battery makers.
Northern's state-of-the-art carbon and battery laboratory in Frankfurt, Germany enables the Company's
battery division to produce BAM derived from the LDI graphite mine and to build lithium-ion batteries that
meet the critical performance specifications of automakers such as cycle life, driving range and charging
speed.
Earlier this month the Company announced a joint development agreement with Rain Carbon Inc. to
develop advanced natural graphite anode material to improve performance and reduce the costs and
carbon footprint of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles.
In addition, Northern's patented Porocarb®
product is currently being evaluated by leading global battery manufacturers with very positive results.
Porocarb® is a carbon-based material that enhances the performance of both solid state and lithium-ion
batteries.
"We are putting the pieces in place to be ready when markets improve to supply North American battery
makers with BAM processed from our graphite, tailored to their needs and close to their end markets,"
said Mr. Jacquemin.
Global graphite markets face rising supply pressures amid geopolitical tensions with China, driving
consumers to seek secure supply chains in the West, and rely less on the world's largest producer and
processor of the leading component in lithium-ion batteries. Northern has seen sustained demand
growth and near-record sales since the second half of last year, and those trends are seen continuing
into 2025.
About Northern Graphite
Northern is a Canadian, TSX Venture Exchange listed company that is the only flake graphite producing
company in North America.
Northern is focused on becoming a world leader in producing natural
graphite and upgrading it into high-value products critical to the green economy, including anode
material for lithium-ion batteries/EVs, fuel cells and graphene, as well as advanced industrial
technologies. The Company's mine-to-battery strategy is spearheaded by its Battery Materials Division,
which has a fully equipped, state-of-the-art laboratory in Frankfurt. The Division is focused on developing
advanced anode materials to improve the cycle life and increase the charging rate of lithium ion
batteries and on marketing Northern's patented Porocarb® product. Porocarb® is a carbon based
material that enhances the performance of both solid state and lithium-ion batteries and is currently
being evaluated by leading global battery manufacturers with very positive results.
Northern's graphite assets include the producing Lac des Iles mine in Quebec where the Company is
boosting output to meet growing demand from industrial customers and coming demand from North
American battery makers. The Company also owns the large-scale Bissett Creek project in Ontario and
the fully permitted Okanjande graphite mine in Namibia, which is currently on care and maintenance, and
represents an opportunity to substantially increase graphite production at a lower cost and with a shorter
time to market than most competing projects. All projects have "battery quality" graphite and are located
close to infrastructure in politically stable jurisdictions.
For media inquiries contact
Pav Jordan, VP of Communications
Email:
For additional information
Please visit the Company's website at
https://www.northerngraphite.com/home/
, the Company's profile
on
www.sedarplus.ca
our
Social Channels
listed below or contact the Company at (613) 271-2124.
YouTube
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable
Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information are frequently characterized by
words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential",
"possible" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "will",
"could", or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements
regarding, among others, the Company's plans to increase output at LDI, the Company's intentions to
restart the Okanjande mine in Namibia and development plans for its other projects including Bissett
Creek and its planned Baie-Comeau Battery Anode Material plant. All such forward-looking
statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by management based on their
experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments,
as well as other factors they believe are appropriate in the circumstances. However, these statements
are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from those projected including, but not limited to, unexpected changes in
laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of other parties to
perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or
inadequacy of infrastructure and the failure of ongoing and contemplated studies to deliver
anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued studies, development or
operations and the inability to raise required financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on forward-looking information or statements.
Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on what
management believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that
actual results will be consistent with them. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date
of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject
to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the
date of this news release.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
news release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/227263