Spherical Graphite Test Facility Begins Operations in Tennessee

Published: November 3, 2016 |

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Elcora Advanced Materials Corp, Northern Graphite Corporation, Nouveau Monde Mining Enterprises Inc., Metals of Africa Limited, Pyrotek Incorporated, and Coulometrics LLC have reported that the micronizing and spheronizing mill acquired by the group has been installed and is operational.

The mill is being used to produce and optimize the yield of spherical graphite (SPG) from various mine concentrates and to maximize its performance. SPG is the anode material used in lithium ion batteries (LiBs). Ultimately, the goal of all parties is to develop next generation and high-yield spheronization technology to meet the demanding cost targets of automotive LiB applications and to achieve full qualification of materials for use by LiB manufacturers. All participating companies will share any spheronizing technologies that are developed.

The mill is located at Coulometrics’ battery production and test facility in Tennessee, USA. The development and testing process will be lead by Dr. Edward Buiel. “We can now produce and test coated SPG from end to end within North America which will rapidly advance our development efforts. Our goal is to develop next generation, high performance anode materials for LiBs at a significantly lower cost and with a greatly reduced environmental footprint compared to existing processes. The process to produce LIB-grade anode material has been partially funded by the United States’ National Science Foundation and Department of Energy,” said Dr. Edward Buiel, president and CEO at Coulometrics.

Coulometrics, LLC is a leading provider of energy storage consulting and advanced battery component manufacturing services. Dr. Edward Buiel, president and CEO of Coulometrics, has a Ph. D. in physics and 20 years of experience developing carbon-based materials for lithium ion batteries and supercapacitors. Coulometrics has a unique combination of expertise that includes graphite processing for lithium ion batteries and full cell electrode coating, calendaring, cell assembly, and testing.

Elcora was founded in 2011 and has been structured to become a vertically integrated graphite & graphene company that mines, processes, refines graphite, and produces both the micro graphite suited for Lithium-ion battery anodes and graphene. As part of the vertical integration strategy, Elcora has secured high-grade graphite and graphene precursor graphite from its interest in the operation of the Ragedara mine in Sri Lanka which is already in production. Elcora has developed a unique low cost effective ecological processes to make high quality graphite, micro-graphite and graphene that are commercially scalable. This combination means that Elcora has vertically integrated the tools and resources required to produce graphite, micro-graphite and graphene.

Northern’s Bissett Creek graphite deposit is an advanced, pre-development stage project that has a feasibility study and its major environmental permit. Subject to the completion of operational and species at risk permitting, which are at an advanced stage, Northern is in a position to commence construction in 2017 subject to the availability of financing. Northern believes that the Bissett Creek project has the best flake size distribution and highest margin of any new graphite project and has the added advantage of low capital costs and realistic production targets relative to the size of the market.

Nouveau Monde owns the Matawinie’s Tony graphite deposit discovered by the company in 2015. The project is located in the Saint-Michel-des-Saints area, some 130 km north of Montreal, Quebec, Canada with direct access to all needed infrastructure, labor and green and affordable hydroelectricity. Nouveau Monde is developing its project with the highest corporate social responsibility standards and the lowest environmental footprint (targeting a net zero carbon emission operation).

Pyrotek is a global engineering leader and innovator of performance-improving products and technical solutions, integrated systems design and consulting services for the automotive, aerospace, rail transportation and high-tech manufacturing markets. Near Niagara Falls, NY, USA, Pyrotek operates an advanced, high temperature graphitization facility that utilizes clean, renewable and low-cost hydroelectric power. Combining proprietary technology, low-emission furnaces and renewable energy, Pyrotek is able to produce highly consistent, battery grade, spherical natural graphite anode materials, with 99.995 percent purity. Unlike the much higher-emission and low-efficiency Acheson furnaces and other large batch purification processes employed around the world, Pyrotek’s efficient, repeatable and clean graphitization technology ensures an environmentally responsible anode supply chain.

Metals of Africa Ltd has successfully delineated, high quality and grade graphite resources in Mozambique, East Africa. The 100 percent owned Montepuez Resource boasts 61.6Mt @ 10.3 percent TGC and the nearby Balama Central Resource contains 16.3 Mt at 10.4 percent TGC that was defined in less than one month of drilling - both resources remain open in all directions. The company has uniquely positioned itself amongst its peers, to now quickly transition into development with an extremely low cost operating profile. MTA prides itself on its environmental best practice policies, zero harm and ongoing positive community development programs.

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