Lomiko Metals Inc. announced it has successfully completed half-cell coin battery testing of its La Loutre graphite material with Polaris Battery Labs, LLC . Polaris prepared La Loutre?s coated spherical purified graphite (cSPG) material from flotation concentrate samples and subjected it to half-cell coin testing to determine its basic material electrochemical performance metrics. The total mass of cSPG provided was approximately 160g and originated from coated purified samples generated by the Corem Innovation Centre in Quebec, Canada.

These samples were micronized and spheronized by ProGraphite in Germany. The samples are deemed representative of the La Loutre deposit. Polaris will continue the test program in 2024.

Lomiko is completing the entire ?rock-to-battery? testing cycle as part of its Pre-Feasibility Study. The half-cell battery testing is now complete with exceptional results, and it is continuing with the graphite anode pouch cell construction and testing in Phase 2 with Polaris.

Concurrent with these studies, Lomiko is also working on the ?NRC Study? announced on July 27, 2023, which aims to advance pre-feasibility level battery trials with its La Loutre natural flake graphite concentrate.? Background and Summary of Lomiko Metallurgical Tests: The testing cycle started in the summer of 2022 with 640 kg of drill core provided from the existing core storage.

These core samples originated from both the Battery and EV zones of the La Loutre deposit and are considered representative. The first study was performed on flotation concentrate that was produced at SGS Lakefield from the 640kg core samples. Various pre-feasibility (?PFS?) level metallurgical tests and a study were completed, including optimization of the flotation circuit, resulting in achieving 94.7% recovery and reconciled LCT (Locked Cycle Testing) testing grades at 99.1%Cg.

For detailed results, please see the press release dated February 6, 2023. The work was directed by Metpro Management Inc. In the second study, ?The ProGraphite SPG Study?, testing was completed on a 10.5 kg bulk flotation sample prepared by SGS Canada Inc. ProGraphite, Germany, used this sample for micronization, spheroidization, and purification testing to produce spheroidized and purified graphite (SPG), which is the material required for the anode in Electric Vehicles (EVs). All physical characterization tests produced very good results, such as narrow particle size distribution range and high tap density and met the target values for Electric Vehicle and other lithium-ion based battery applications.

Two purification methods were investigated on the La Loutre SPG, namely alkaline and acid purification. A total of 100 g of the SPG20 spherical graphite was subjected to intensive alkaline purification. For detailed results, please see the press release dated May 3, 2023.

The micronized and spheronized graphite was then purified and carbon coated by Corem to produce 160g each of coated spherical graphite cSPG16 & cSPG20 for the Polaris Study. The Polaris Coin Cell Study: In ?The Polaris Coin Cell Study?, cSPG batches were sent to Polaris in Oregon, USA, for battery testing, including half-cell coin and pouch battery testing. At this point, Lomiko is reporting only on the half-cell test results.

Pictures of the half-cells made with Lomiko cSPG. Highlights of this study: Reversible delithiation capacity at C/10 of ~356 mAh/g and ~358mA/h respectively, which is above the commercial reference graphite material testing at an average 345mA/h. C-rating describes the current the battery will deliver over the specific period, with C/10 being 10 hours. All half-cell coin batteries were constructed using a batch of 20g of cSPG casted on a Cu current collector and 304SS CR2032 coin cell can components.

It depicts the charging (delithiation) performance of the cSPG20 and cSPG16 samples from La Loutre, respectively, at different charge rates. The plots reveal the good performance of the La Loutre SPG with superior charging capacity compared to commercial graphite in the market today in North America. Both SPG16 and SPG20 outperform the commercial reference in achievable gravimetric capacity which means that with the electrochemical performance results produced by Polaris, Lomiko has now successfully demonstrated the full value chain from ore to battery anode material on samples from the La Loutre project.

Next Steps: In Phase 2, cathode and prepared anodes will be combined into a single-layer pouch cell format to undergo a basic testing regime with possible extended testing which will allow Lomiko to demonstrate technical specifications to meet battery manufacturing requirements.