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Graphite Mining

Canada is sitting on a critical minerals mother lode. But is it ready for the new gold rush? – by Christian Paas-Lang (CBC News Politics – April 8,2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/

Proponents say Canada must do more to turn aspiration into action

Drive two hours north of Ottawa, put on a hard hat and bright orange vest, descend into a pit — and you find yourself on the frontline in the fight to be part of the new, green economy.

A mining project might not be what comes to mind when you think of the transition to a lower emissions economy. But embedded in electric vehicles, solar panels and hydrogen fuel storage are metals and minerals that come from mines like the one in Lac-des-Îles, Que.

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Guelph health tech company looks to advance a Hearst-area graphite mine – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – February 15, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Zentek and B.C. numbered company consider partnership to develop the Albany graphite deposit

A southern Ontario healthcare solutions company is looking to spin off its high-grade graphite deposit, west of Hearst, into a separate mine development entity to advance it toward commercial production.

Guelph-based Zentek said in a Feb. 15 news release that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with a numbered company in British Columbia to “transfer” its Albany deposit into the hands of a publicly-listed company to be registered on a Canadian stock exchange.

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Shift to Mined vs. Man-Made Graphite Raises Shortage Risk for EVs – by Scott Patterson and Amrith Ramkumar (Wall Street Journal – January 25, 2023)

https://www.wsj.com/

Natural graphite is greener than synthetic, leading auto makers to turn to mines for the mineral

Mining companies are ramping up supplies of critical minerals for rechargeable batteries such as lithium, cobalt and nickel. Graphite, a key battery component, has largely been overlooked.

That is about to change. Some of the world’s biggest auto and battery makers and the U.S. government are racing to secure graphite supplies amid looming signs of shortages of the mineral suitable for batteries. So far graphite prices haven’t reflected the tight supply.

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Africa’s Growing Graphite Mining Potential – by Gareth Taylor (SP Global.com – December 26, 2022)

https://www.spglobal.com/

Electric Vehicle (EV) sales have seen considerable growth in recent years, reaching 9.4% of global passenger vehicle penetration in 2021, and expected to triple by 2026. S&P Global Commodities Insights estimate EV sales to grow by a compounded growth rate of over 28% over this period.

A consequence of this, battery materials have quickly become critical to the automotive supply chain with major companies establishing partnerships with both battery cell manufacturers and miners of the raw material.

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Graphite poised to do a lithium – by Frik Els (Mining.com – November 23, 2022)

https://www.mining.com/

Pressure on carmakers in the EV battery supply chain is only building.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) faced with an 8-fold increase in lithium prices, convulsions on the nickel market and ever-present worries about cobalt supply from the Congo, are being forced to look downstream to secure supply for their ambitious expansion plans.

Andy Miller, chief operating officer of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, told an annual industry gathering in Los Angeles last week that soaring lithium prices and LME nickel market turmoil are signs of the huge momentum that is building in the battery supply chain.

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Quebec miner aims to weaken China’s grip on electric vehicles with graphite deal -by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – October 24, 2022)

https://financialpost.com/

Nouveau Monde inks agreement with one of world’s biggest battery makers

The “main limiting factor” of an emerging strategy to offset China’s dominance of the battery supply chain for electric vehicles (EVs) will be the Asian powerhouse’s grip on the market for graphite, said the head of a Canadian company attempting to become a significant supplier of the material.

Democratic countries in North America and Europe have begun using their spending and regulatory powers to ensure EV production occurs close to home, or at least in places where they wield influence. The effort is a response to the growing animosity between Beijing and the United States and its allies.

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How a Quebec graphite mine is dividing a community’s support for the EV revolution – by Neal Rockwell (Globe and Mail – October 9, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Matawinie mine is part of a larger plan to make Canada into a manufacturing hub for lithium ion batteries. But some worry the project isn’t as clean as it claims to be

The Matawinie graphite mine, located about two hours north of Montreal, is a small part of an ambitious government plan to make Canada into a manufacturing hub for lithium ion batteries. Electric cars can’t function without somewhere to store electricity, the thinking goes, meaning this country needs battery supply chains if it hopes to stay relevant in a future without fossil fuels.

But the mine has not yet begun producing graphite at commercial scale. It is still in the early phases of construction and – like many Canadian resource projects – it is riven with controversy.

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JV Article: Lomiko Metals aims to be a regional hub to supply the graphite essential to lithium-ion battery manufacturers – by Mining.com/Lomiko Metals (Mining.com – June 15, 2022)

https://www.mining.com/

Canadian explorer Lomiko Metals (TSXV: LMR; US-OTC: LMRMF) is looking for graphite and lithium — critical ingredients for the anode and cathode of lithium-ion batteries driving the global push towards decarbonization.

The junior miner is advancing its wholly-owned flagship La Loutre graphite project in the Grenville graphite belt of southern Quebec, approximately 180 km northwest of Montreal.

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The Geopolitics of the Rare-Metals Race – by Guillaume Pitron (The Washington Quarterly – April 25, 2022)

The Washington Quarterly

The 20th century was the era of black gold; the 21st will
undoubtedly be the era of metals

In 2010, a team of Pentagon officials and American geologists uncovered Afghanistan’s best kept secret: a plethora of mining resources such as lithium, copper, cobalt—including 1.4 million metric tons of rare-earth elements, estimated to be worth more than $1 trillion, all of them essential to modern industry.

After this development, Afghanistan, according to The New York Times, rapidly became heralded as a country which could “be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world.” More than a decade later, however, US forces filing out of Afghanistan were leaving these resources untapped, attracting the interest of neighboring nations.

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Carmakers dream of clean, green, mean electric machines – by Nick Carey and Barbara Lewis (Reuters – April 4, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON, England, April 4 (Reuters) – An electric car is a clean car, right? If only it were so simple. From motor magnets with toxic histories to batteries made using copious fossil-fuel power, many challenges face carmakers seeking to purge dirtier materials from their supply chains to satisfy regulators and investors.

These obstacles represent opportunities for a growing group of companies in the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem that bet they can capitalise on that demand. They include Advanced Electric Machines (AEM) in northern England, which is working with Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) luxury brand Bentley and others in the auto industry to develop recyclable electric motors free of rare earth metals, which are often produced using polluting chemicals.

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Global graphite production up in 2021 as China cements its top producer status – by Vladimir Basov (Kitco News – February 8, 2022)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in 2021, global production of natural graphite was estimated to have increased by 4% to 1,000,000 tonnes from 2020 production of 966,000 tonnes.

With 820,000 tonnes of natural graphite mined in 2021, China was the world’s leading graphite producer, producing an estimated 82% of total world output.

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Northern Ontario plays integral part in auto supply chain – Fedeli – by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles (North Bay Nugget – November 19, 2021)

https://www.nugget.ca/

Northern Ontario has become an integral part of the auto supply chain, says Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli. The industry, mostly centralized in southern Ontario, is moving north thanks to the increase in production of electric cars.

The provincial government released the next phase of its auto strategy Wednesday that is expected to secure production mandates for hybrid and electric vehicles, to create a domestic battery ecosystem, and position Ontario as a North American automotive innovation hub.

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These green economy commodities are beating the best runs of the China supercycle – by David Rosenberg and Marius Jongstra (Financial Post – November 5, 2021)

https://financialpost.com/

The surge in commodity prices has been impressive since mid-2020, predictably resulting in calls that a new “supercycle” is underway. We have questioned that narrative, given the apparent supply-demand imbalances plaguing the globe and boosting prices in the process.

But one theme we do agree with is the long-term secular tailwinds behind a number of commodities required in the transition to a green economy in order to address climate change.

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Pentagon adds graphite to stockpile list – by Shane Lasley(North of 60 Mining News – October 8, 2021)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

As another signal foreshadowing the growing demand for graphite, the Pentagon has added this lithium-ion battery ingredient to its newest National Defense Stockpile Acquisitions List.

Published by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency on Oct. 4, this list calls for DLA’s strategic materials department to acquire up to 900 metric tons of graphite to store in government stockpiles over the coming year.

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Local History: ‘Broad envelopes’ of undeveloped graphite ore – by Susanna McLeod (Kingston Whig Standard – September 21, 2021)

https://www.thewhig.com/

Carbon in the form of flake graphite may have a lustre ranging from dull to metallic. In gradations of black to grey, the flat plates with hexagonal edges seem more drab than eye-catching.

The non-metallic element has vast applications and potential, from the common pencil lead to industrial and aerospace purposes, and beyond. Located in the Precambrian Grenville Province, eastern Ontario seemed to be a prime area for a graphite mine. About 70 kilometres from Kingston, the Portland Graphite Mine drew the interest of resource companies since the mid-1900s. Then the attention quietly vanished.

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