Northern Graphite (TSXV: NGC), the continent’s only graphite producer, plans to around double production capacity at its Lac des Iles plant in Quebec to meet higher demand for the battery metal sourced outside of China.
The company is moving up a planned two-month shutdown to start on Nov. 2 to install capacity for 25,000 tonnes a year from around 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes a year currently, the company said on Monday.
“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,” CEO Hugues Jacquemin said in a release.
“Lac des Iles has the potential to produce more and for longer than anticipated when we acquired the mine in 2022,” he said. “We need to prepare as we look to open a new pit and increase throughput at the mill.”
China’s, the leading producer of graphite used in electric vehicle batteries, said in November last year it was curbing exports of the material. The Asian giant produces and processes most of the world’s graphite supplies.
Shares in Northern Graphite fell 4% on Monday afternoon to C$0.11 apiece, valuing the company at C$13.8 million.
The restart is planned for Jan. 6. During the closure, Northern will supply customers from inventories and from third parties, it said. The Lac-des-Iles mine, the company’s cornerstone asset, is located about 140 km north of Ottawa.
Northern Graphite began operating the plant seven days a week in April, a move that boosted output by 59%. But the company encountered a financial hit when markets knocked the battery metal’s price lower.
The company plans to open a new pit by early in 2025 and lengthen the mine’s life by eight years. It has planned drilling this year aimed at expanding resources and reducing the strip ratio.
The mine has 3 million indicated tonnes at an average grade of 6.4% graphitic carbon (Cg), containing around 213,000 tonnes of Cg, according to a resource estimate. It has 1.4 million inferred tonnes averaging 7.4% Cg.
Earlier this month the company announced a partnership with Rain Carbon, a Hamilton, Ontario-based chemical producer, to develop and commercialize advanced battery anode material.
