Northern Graphite Corporation announced that it has filed the final patent application for its proprietary natural graphite purification technology. The company previously filed a provisional patent application in 2018. The patent relates to the use of chlorine in a specially constructed fluidized bed reactor that was designed by Hatch Inc. Northern has signed an exclusive licensing agreement to use Hatch's intellectual property in the design, construction and operation of the reactor, which is a key component of Northern's purification technology. Graphite mine concentrates must be upgraded to 99.95% purity for use in a number of value added markets, the large being the manufacture of anode material for lithium ion batteries. Essentially all of this purification is done in China using hydrofluoric acid which is difficult and/or expensive to do in the west due to environmental and workplace health and safety challenges. As the electric vehicle and grid storage markets expand, the demand for LiB anode material will grow exponentially and it is critical that the west develop an alternative to current graphite purification processes.