GRAPHITE: Nouveau Monde to build demonstration plant

QUEBEC – Nouveau Monde Graphite of Montreal is making plans to build a demonstration plant in the community of Saint-Michel-des-Saints 130 km north of Montreal. The plant will treat material from the West zone of the Matawinie project. Beginning in the first half of 2018, the plant will be capable of producing several types of products including graphite concentrate for the traditional industrial market and value-added products for the lithium ion battery market. It will have a capacity of 1,000 tonnes of concentrate per year. Nouveau Monde says operating the demonstration plant will allow it to optimize the flowsheet in advance of commercial scale production planned for 2020. The graphite products can also be tested by potential North American, European and Asian customers with the goal of securing an offtake agreement. President and CEO Eric Desaulniers said, "Our deposit is located in the same geological province and only 120 km away from the depleting Imerys Lac-Des-Iles mine which has serviced customers in North America for years. This demonstration plant will enable us to reach out to customers and offer them a reliable, long term and cost effective North American alternative." Visit www.NouveauMonde.ca for technical information about the Matawinie project.