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Northern Graphite Successfully Produces and Tests Spherical Graphite for Use in Lithium Ion Batteries

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:40 AM on Monday, April 2nd, 2012

OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(April 2, 2012) – Northern Graphite Corporation (TSX VENTURE:NGC)(OTCQX:NGPHF) is pleased to announce that the Company has successfully manufactured test quantities of spherical graphite from graphite concentrate produced from the Company’s 100% owned Bissett Creek deposit. The spherical graphite has been evaluated in Lithium/graphite battery test cells and the performance of these cells demonstrated that it meets or exceeds current commercial performance requirements and that Bissett Creek graphite does not contain any impurities that negatively affect cell performance. Further test cycles are on-going. The cells were made and testing carried out in a highly qualified, independent laboratory.

Gregory Bowes, Chief Executive Officer, commented that: “Value added processing such as the manufacture of spherical graphite is a big part of Northern Graphite strategy to create value for shareholders.” He added that: “As a result of work that has been completed over the last two years we can now provide potential strategic and offtake partners with representative test samples of graphite concentrate produced using the same flow sheet that will be employed in a full scale mine, and spherical graphite based on that concentrate.”

About Spherical Graphite

Spherical graphite is used to make the anodes in Li ion batteries and is manufactured from the flake concentrate produced by graphite mining operations. The upgrading process consists of micronizing the graphite flakes, rounding them to create a spherical or “potato” shape, and purifying them to increase the carbon content to 99.95%. Northern Graphite micronized and rounded its Bissett Creek graphite to basic industry specifications and can modify it to meet the requirements of various products and manufacturers. Spherical graphite sells for much higher prices than run of mine graphite concentrates and could further enhance the economics of the Bissett Creek Project.

Currently, almost all spherical graphite is produced from small flake concentrates (-100 to +150 mesh) and 70% of the graphite is destroyed in the process. As a result, it takes three tonnes of small flake graphite to make one tonne of spherical graphite. These losses are the single largest cost in the manufacturing of spherical graphite. However, Northern Graphite has achieved spherical graphite yields from its large flake concentrate as high as 70% which will substantially reduce production costs. The large flake nature of the Bissett Creek deposit provides the Company with the flexibility to sell its concentrates into high value, large flake markets or produce spherical graphite at competitive costs for the Li ion battery market.

Almost all spherical graphite is currently produced in China and purified using strong acids which results in large volumes of acidic and toxic waste. This method is not environmentally sustainable as the demand for, and production of, Li ion batteries increases. It is also inconsistent with the green energy objectives of the hybrid and all electric car industry. The high quality and purity of graphite from Bissett Creek has enabled the Company to develop a proprietary purification technology that is environmentally friendly and sustainable. The technology works at much lower temperatures than traditional thermal purification techniques and will result in lower capital and operating costs.

Value Added Processing

Based on the positive test results, the Company will commence engineering and design work to define the capital and operating costs of a facility to upgrade Bissett Creek graphite concentrate into spherical graphite. The objective is to provide Li ion battery manufacturers with a stable, secure source of supply that is produced in an environmentally acceptable manner. This facility will initially be based on the approximately 20% of Bissett Creek production that is -80 mesh with the ability to scale it to larger volumes in the future.

Don Baxter, P.Eng, President of the Company and a “Qualified Person” under 43-101, is responsible for and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release.

The Graphite Market

Graphite prices have increased substantially due to the ongoing modernization of China and other emerging economies which has resulted in strong demand from traditional steel and automotive markets. In addition, new applications such as lithium ion batteries, vanadium redox batteries, fuel cells and nuclear power have the potential to create significant incremental demand growth. The manufacturing of Li ion batteries requires up to 30 times more graphite than lithium and their use in the growing EV/HEV market is expected to require significant increases in graphite production. However, graphite production and exports from China, which produces 70% of the world’s supply, are expected to decline and an export tax and a licensing system have been instituted. As a result, both the European Union and the United States have declared graphite a supply critical mineral.

Northern Graphite Corporation

Northern Graphite Corporation is a Canadian company that has a 100% interest in the Bissett Creek graphite deposit located in eastern Ontario. Northern Graphite is well positioned to benefit from this compelling supply/demand dynamic with a high purity, large flake, scalable deposit that is located close to infrastructure. A bankable Final Feasibility Study (“FS”) and permitting are expected to be completed in the first half of 2012, following which mine construction could commence, subject to the results of the FS and financing. Additional information on Northern Graphite can be found under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company’s website at www.northerngraphite.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of statements that include words such as “could”, “potential”, “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “likely”, “will” or other similar words or phrases. These statements are only current predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact Information

 

Northern Graphite Corporation
Gregory Bowes
CEO
(613) 241-9959

Northern Graphite Corporation
Don Baxter P.Eng
President
(705) 789-9706

Riding the graphite bull

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:06 AM on Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

Chris Berry, founder of Mountain Partners asset management company, provided an interesting summary of the graphite space while speaking at the recent Graphite Express Conference in Vancouver.

The conference featured a keynote address from Berry and 5-minute presentations from some of the key graphite explorers, including Zimtu Capital Corp., Northern Graphite, Lomiko Metals, Strike Graphite, Focus Metals, Graphite One Resources, First Graphite, and Standard Graphite. A similar conference followed in Toronto.

Investor interest in graphite has been growing. Last December saw the first graphite conference in London, UK presented by online journal Industrial Minerals.

The journal has a useful page on graphite and provides the following key facts on the mineral:

  • graphite comes in three forms: amorphous, flake and vein/lump. Amorphous graphite contains 70-75% carbon and is the most common. Flake graphite is 85-90% carbon and is used for higher value applications like batteries. Vein/lump graphite is 90-96% carbon and is most valuable because it requires the least processing.
  • graphite is used in refractories – used to line high-temperature equipment; pencils; lithium-ion batteries – used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles; fuel cells; and Pebble Bed nuclear reactors. It is used in foundries, lubricants and brake linings. Graphite is also used to produce graphene, a tightly packed single layer of carbon atoms that can be used to make inexpensive solar panels, powerful transistors, and even a wafer-thin tablet that could be the next-generation iPad. Graphene, extremely light and strong, has been called “the world’s next wonder material.”
  • the closure of graphite mines in China, which produces 75% of the world’s graphite, has resulted in a fall in global graphite production to 1.3 million tonnes per annum in 2011. Like rare earths, China is restricting the export of graphite to protect its own domestic industries. The second largest producer is India, followed by Brazil, North Korea, Austria and Canada.
  • Graphite exploration is focused in Canada, with eight companies exploring properties in Quebec and Ontario. Europe has a number of mothballed mines that could return to production.

Berry, a former Wall Street broker and co-publisher of the Morning Notes investment newsletter, presents the case for graphite as a key solution in solving the global dilemma of how to provide electrification to millions in the developing world, and as a critical metal for developing new battery and nuclear power technology.

What follows below are his key points:

  • The United States, Europe and China have included graphite among a short list of critical metals.
  • the US Geological Service estimates the graphite market to be 10 times the size of the market for rare earth elements. The graphite market is about the same size as the market for nickel. 60% of the market is amorphous graphite and 40% is flake graphite. Most of the growth is in flake graphite (see bullet point below)
  • natural graphite can be processed to make synthetic graphite useful for high-value applications like lithium-ion batteries, but the process is expensive – $10,000 to $20,000/ton versus $3-4,000/t for flake graphite. The result is a race to find the best flake graphite deposits.
  • graphite is different from gold, silver, copper, etc because users require a specific carbon purity level. “It’s security of supply that keeps you up at night,” says Berry.
  • 33% of the graphite market produces refractories and crucibles (used in foundries); only 5% is for batteries. But the lithium-ion battery market is expected to grow by 25% a year.
  • Three of the largest lithium-ion battery makers in the world, GS Yuasa Corp, LG Chem and Liotech, a consortium between Russia and China, are building the largest lithium-ion battery plant in the world, in Russia. “Just these three heavy hitters in the battery space are making multi-million dollar bets on the future of lithium-ion technology, which cannot push forward without graphite,” says Berry.
  • future uses of graphite could include vanadium-redox batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. Graphite could also potentially replace silicon in microchips and silver used in solar panels.
  • by 2020 world consumption of graphite will be 1.9m tonnes, which does not include graphite needed for batteries, fuel cells and Pebble Bed nuclear reactors.
  • China will require 400,000 tonnes of large flake graphite for Pebble Bed nuclear reactors and lithium-ion batteries will require 327,000 tonnes. The current supply of large flake graphite is 400,000t, so there will be a need to double the supply of large flake graphite used in batteries and nuclear reactors in the next eight years. ”The takeaway is if you buy into the electrification thesis, and I’m halfway right, demand should easily outstrip supply,” says Berry.

Gary Economo, CEO of Focus Metals, also makes a number of useful points about graphite in his recently penned article in Proactive Investors USA & Canada. A select few appear below:

  • If there is any doubt about graphite’s importance as a commodity, one only has to look at the trebling of market prices for 97% graphite concentrate during the last decade.
  • Green, off-petroleum technologies are driving demand growth towards a market bubble that even a tsunami of new global production will be unable to deflate by 2020.
  • Industrial Minerals reports that graphite prices between mid-2011 and the end of January 2012 appear to have stabilized after dropping through the end of last year.
  • A current surplus of product in the world market and end-user depletion of stockpiles contributed to the downturn.
  • The United States produces no graphite and is 100% dependent on imports to meet its industrial and technology needs. As a continental neighbor, it makes sense for Canada to look south first, then Europe and Asia as it builds its customer base.

Source: http://www.mining.com/2012/03/27/riding-the-graphite-bull/?utm_source=digest-en-mining-120327&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digest

More Flake Graphite Needed to Keep Pace With Surging Battery Demand

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 7:32 AM on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Consumer appetite for electronic gadgets such as laptops, iPhones, cell phones, and MP3 players is fueling demand for lithium-ion batteries, which contain twenty times more graphite than lithium. In addition, mankind’s quest for cleaner vehicles – such as electric cars, which also require lithium-ion batteries – is increasing demand for graphite, a metal once seen as a staple for the steel industry.

Brent Nykoliation, Vice President of Business Development at Energizer Resources Inc.  (TSX:EGZ ,OTCBB:ENZR,FWB:YE5), said that electric vehicles, which are already being developed, hold one of the biggest and most immediate potential offtakes for graphite in the coming years. China, for example, is reportedly  preparing to stock up on enough graphite to put one million vehicles a year on the road starting in 2015. At an average of 130 pounds of graphite needed per electric car battery, the net requirement per year will be 300,000 tons of graphite.

“Now multiply that by five million cars and you see the demand potential,” Nykoliation told Graphite Investing News in an interview. “And that’s just China. Morgan Stanley predicts electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles to have a 25 percent penetration level globally by 2025 from just 0.1 percent today. While many would think this is an overly aggressive estimate, just taking a five percent penetration of the 850 million vehicles globally today equals more than 40 million vehicles by 2025. Industry analysts agree that the big producers making graphite are concerned because they are not prepared to meet that level of demand.”

Global demand for graphite is currently about 1.2 million tons a year, and most of that comes from the steel industry. In 2008, according to GeoMega  (TSXV:GMA ), a Montreal-based exploration company, graphite demand for lithium-ion batteries was approximately 44,000 tonnes, or about ten percent of the flake market.

“Currently batteries account for roughly five percent of global graphite demand,” Chris Berry, founder of House Mountain Partners , told Graphite Investing News in an interview. “However, demand for lithium-ion batteries for use in various applications is growing by 20 percent per year. As you need 20 times more graphite in a lithium-ion battery than you do lithium, it is clear that there is potentially strong demand for large-flake, high-purity graphite in the future.”

3,000 tons of graphite to start nuclear reactor

Energizer’s Nykoliation added that there are several new applications that are entirely reliant on graphite, such as pebble-bed nuclear reactors. A one gigawatt pebble-bed nuclear reactor needs about 3,000 tons of graphite to start and up to 1,000 tons a year to operate. “A lot is happening, and these developments are going to create a huge demand for graphite.” Energizer is fast-tracking its Green Giant  project in Madagascar, with plans to mine large-flake graphite in 2014. The Toronto-headquartered company is developing what it believes is one of the largest graphite deposits in the world.

Canaccord  (TSX:CF ) estimated in a recent research report that lithium carbonate demand from lithium-ion batteries will reach 286,000 tonnes by 2020, requiring a six-fold increase  in annual flake graphite production to cater to the production of so many batteries. Northern Graphite Corp.  (TSX:NGC ) said that only flake graphite, which can be upgraded to 99.9 percent purity, can be used to make the spherical or potato-shaped graphite used in lithium-ion batteries. “The process is expensive and wastes 70% of the feedstock flake graphite. As a result, spherical graphite currently sells for $4-6,000/tonne, or twice the price of high quality flake graphite.”

Ryan Fletcher , a director at Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSXV:ZC ,OTC Pink:ZTMUF,FWB:ZCT1), a Vancouver-based firm that invests in resource companies, told Mineweb  in a recent interview that the steel industry and other historic applications of graphite use amorphous graphite, but these new emerging technologies use flake graphite. “About 40 percent of that 1.2-Mt market is flake and 60 percent amorphous, so the flake graphite market is just over 400,000 tons per year. Some of the players in the industry anticipate that just one application alone, the lithium-ion battery, could use well over 1.6 Mt of flake graphite per year by 2020, which is more than threefold the entire current market. Even if the market doubles, that’s 800,000 tons of graphite per year by 2020. A large-scale producer puts out only about 20,000 to 40,000 tons per year, which means a lot of new mines and a lot of opportunity.”

House Mountain’s Berry said “there are dozens of companies involved in the lithium-ion battery business for both technology and storage.” LG Chem  and A123 Systems (NASDAQ:AONE ,FWB:ALC) are two companies involved in producing lithium-ion batteries.

Considering the fact that a large-scale producer’s upper end of graphite production is 40,000 tons of flake graphite per year, and that there is an estimated additional demand of one million tons by 2020, about 25 new mines are needed by that time. WithChina  controlling more than 70 percent of the globe’s graphite production and calling for rare earth-style quotas on its export, there will be a premium placed on graphite mines in countries that are seen as more stable and less prone to resource nationalism.