Northern Graphite Corporation announced that results of testing on graphite samples from its cornerstone Lac des Iles (LDI) mine have verified that LDI graphite is suitable for the production of Battery Anode Material (BAM), a key component for Lithium-Ion batteries. Testing was carried out by Heraeus Battery Technology (Heraeus), a Hanau, Germany-based laboratory. Heraeus analyzed the electrochemical characteristics of BAM produced from LDI graphite samples and demonstrated its potential to perform at or above the standards of commercially available reference materials.

The Company's LDI mine, located in Quebec, 180 kilometres northwest of Montreal, is North America's only producing natural graphite mine. LDI will provide part of the supply required by Northern's planned Baie-Comeau BAM plant, which is currently projected to come online in 2026 at an initial production rate of 50,000 tonnes per year. Producing BAM from the future Baie-Comeau plant is a key component of Northern's growth strategy.

The Heraeus laboratory results confirmed that anode electrodes produced in the laboratory and electrochemically tested in half-cells for Critical to Quality markers including first cycle efficiency, reversible specific capacity and cycling efficiency, demonstrated that graphite samples from the Company's LDI mine that had been milled, shaped, purified and coated using currently available technologies meet or exceed current industry standards. The specific capacity of graphite, the active material in the anode of Lithium-Ion batteries, is a key indicator of the quality of the graphite and of how much energy can be stored per gram of material. Its value is measured in milliampere-hours per gram of active material ("mAh/g").

In second-cycle testing, used to determine the reversible capacity, a key indicator of the energy storage capability, LDI samples showed a specific capacity of 361 mAh/g versus an industry comparative of 358 mAh/g. The theoretical maximum storage capacity of graphite is 372 mAh/g and the goal of processing is to get as close to that figure as possible. There is effectively no capacity in the West to convert graphite mine concentrates into anode material and EV manufacturers are depending on project proponents such as Northern to fill the void and supply existing and planned Lithium-Ion battery manufacturing plants throughout North America. The proposed Baie-Comeau BAM plant will be one of the world's largest and cleanest such conversion facilities and will process concentrates from Northern's mines as well as from other producers that will be coming online.

The plant will have among the lowest CO2 footprints in the industry due to its access to green, hydroelectric power, with pricing that is among the most competitive in the world. The Baie-Comeau plant will be made up of modules of 10,000-20,000 tonnes of production which will be scaled up to meet individual customers' demands. Northern is also working to increase natural graphite production at LDI and plans to restart its Okanjande mine in Namibia in 2024 and start production at its Bissett Creek property in Ontario in 2026, subject to financing.