Northern Graphite Well Positioned to Benefit From New Critical Minerals Developments in Ontario
Northern Graphite Well Positioned to Benefit
From New Critical Minerals Developments in
Ontario
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 30, 2022) - Northern Graphite Corporation
(TSXV: NGC)
(OTCQB: NGPHF) (FSE: ONG) (XSTU:ONG)
(the "
Company
" or "
Northern
") is pleased to provide
shareholders and investors with a summary and analysis of a number of important developments with
respect to the critical minerals industry in the Province of Ontario. The Company believes that its Bissett
Creek graphite deposit is the most advanced critical minerals development project in Ontario and
accordingly, that it is well positioned to benefit. Graphite is the largest component in a lithium ion battery
("LiB") and supply is currently dominated by China.
In mid March, the Ontario government announced the launch of a Critical Minerals Strategy, setting a five
year roadmap to establish the province as a reliable global supplier of responsibly sourced critical
minerals. The six pillars of the strategy include "growing domestic processing and creating resilient local
supply chains" as well as "investing in critical minerals innovation, research and development." This
strategy seeks to leverage Ontario's wealth of raw materials, close proximity to manufacturing plants and
markets, and green hydroelectric power to facilitate the production of products with high ESG standards
and low carbon footprints.
These competitive advantages will enable the province to play a significant
role in the development of a North American supply chain that isn't dependant on raw materials from
China.
On
March 23
Stellantis and LG Energy Solution announced they will establish Canada's first ever large
scale production lithium-ion battery plant in Windsor, Ontario, investing over $5 billion dollars in the joint
venture. The new Windsor plant will require approximately 60,000 tonnes per year ("tpy") of natural
graphite to reach its projected production capacity of 45 gigawatt hours ("GWH") per year.
This news followed the announcement on
March 16
that Honda will invest $1.4 billion to upgrade its
Alliston, Ontario plant, with the 2023 Honda CR-V hybrid among the first models to be built. Honda plans
to sell only zero emission vehicles in North America by 2040 and it will upgrade its other plants over the
next 20 years.
LG Energy Solution
recently announced two new projects in Michigan, just across the US border from
Ontario. It is investing $1.7 billion to expand its LiB cell plant in Holland, Michigan and has a third joint
venture with GM to build a $2.5 billion cell plant in the City of Lansing and Delta County, Michigan.
Combined with the investment in Ontario, LG will have a collective LiB production capacity of 200 GWH
in North America, requiring 250,000 tpy of graphite.
Bissett Creek
is the nearest graphite deposit to these megafactories which provides the Company with
a unique opportunity to deliver a secure, local, responsibly sourced supply of graphite. Testing has
indicated that graphite from Bissett Creek is very well suited for the manufacture of high capacity,
durable, long life lithium ion batteries. Bissett Creek is projected to produce 20,000 tonnes of graphite
per year in phase 1 of development and has the resources to increase production to approximately
100,000 tpy as demand grows.
Canada's graphite production in 2020 was estimated to be only 10,000
tonnes.
"The move towards a green economy has been called a once in a lifetime opportunity and jurisdictions
around the world are competing for the investment that is required and the jobs that will be created," said
Northern Graphite CEO, Greg Bowes. "Financial support from the Ontario government has been critical
to attracting these EV and battery manufacturing plants to the province and it is essential that investment
also flows into the mineral projects needed to supply them," he added.
About the
Bissett Creek
Project
An independent study has rated Bissett Creek the highest margin graphite project in the world, including
existing producing mines. This is due to its very high percentage of valuable large flake graphite, simple
metallurgy and favorable location which provides ready access to equipment, supplies, labor, grid
power, natural gas and markets.
The Bissett Creek deposit is located in the southern part of Canada between the cities of North Bay and
Ottawa and 15 kms from the Trans Canada Highway.
A full Feasibility Study has been completed for the
construction of a graphite mine producing 20,000 tpy of concentrate.
Measured and indicated resources
are sufficient to support a much higher rate of production and the Company is re-evaluating its
development plans in light of the substantial growth in EV/battery markets.
The results of this process are
expected to be announced in the coming months.
About Northern Graphite
Northern Graphite is a Canadian company, listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"), that is
focussed 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 LiBs/EVs, fuel cells and graphene,
as well as advanced industrial technologies.
Northern recently announced it had entered into binding purchase agreements to acquire the natural
graphite division of Imerys SA (the "Transaction").
This includes the producing Lac des Iles graphite
mine in Quebec and the Okanjande graphite deposit/Okorusu processing plant in Namibia.
Closing of
the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including final approval of the TSX-V and completion
of $60 million in related financings.
Completion of the Transaction will result in Northern becoming the
only North American and the world's third largest non-Chinese graphite producing company with 50,000
tpy of capacity.
In addition, Bissett Creek and Okanjande are two large scale development projects that
have the combined potential to produce over 200,000 tpy of high quality flake graphite.
Both are located
close to infrastructure in politically stable jurisdictions and will enable the Company to significantly
expand future production to meet rapidly growing demand from EV and battery markets.
For additional information
Please visit the Company's website at
http://www.northerngraphite.com/investors/presentation/
, the
Company's profile on
www.sedar.com,
contact the Company at (613) 241-9959 or
, or visit our
Social Channels
.
YouTube
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 release include statements regarding,
among others: the Company's intention to complete the Transaction and the related financings and
the timing thereof; the Company's market position and production rates post-Transaction and the
future demand for graphite. 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. 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
release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/118602