Northern Graphite speeds up Lac des Iles mill maintenance as demand rises

Northern Graphite (TSXV: NGC; OTCQB: NGPHF) will temporarily shut down the Lac des Iles processing facility to increase throughput to the mill as well as for repairs and maintenance. The increase in processing capacity is driven by high demand for natural graphite sourced outside of China.

The shutdown begins on Nov. 2, and the restart is planned for Jan. 6, 2025. During the shutdown, Northern will supply customers from inventories and from third parties.

"In order to ensure increased, stable production in 2025 and beyond that can keep up with rising market demand, we have decided to move forward the timeframe for a maintenance and repair shutdown," said CEO Hugues Jacquemin. "Lac des Iles has the potential to produce more and for longer than anticipated when we acquired the mine in 2022, and we need to prepare as we look to open a new pit and increase throughput at the mill."

Capacity at the mill will increase to 25,000 t/y natural graphite from the current range of 10,000 to 15,000 t/y. The company began operating the plant seven days per week in April this year, and that move boosted output by 59%.

The Lac-des-Iles mine is the cornerstone asset for Northern Graphite as it works towards becoming a vertically integrated, mine-to-market supplier for traditional customers of natural graphite and emerging battery technologies. A new pit is in the works to extend the life of the project.

Earlier this month the company announced a partnership with Rain Carbon to develop and commercialize advanced battery anode material.

Learn more at www.NorthernGraphite.com.