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New World","graphites-new-world","article/graphites-new-world",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":826,"featured":50,"reporter":827,"_editable":831,"component":832,"seo_title":553,"categories":833,"visibility":843,"author_company":49,"featured_image":844,"seo_description":826,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":849,"formattedArticleDate":850},"cb24ab42-6197-4447-a268-43b29fa57a5f","2018-08-07 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,585,594,599,606,611,618,623,628,634,639,644,649,655,660,665,671,676,681,686,691,697,702,707,712,718,723,728,734,739,744,749,754,760,765,770,775,781,786,791,796,801,806,811,816,821],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"There has not been a new flake graphite mine in North America since the Lac des Illes operation in Quebec opened its doors in 1989.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":579},"A generation away, the world has changed significantly. China has become the dominant force shaping the flake graphite supply landscape yet new suppliers with differing strategies are for the first time challenging this superiority.",{"type":574,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588,590,592],{"text":589,"type":579},"In addition, lithium ion battery anodes are becoming an increasing focus. ",{"text":591,"type":579},"Benchmark Mineral Intelligence",{"text":593,"type":579}," spoke with Eric Desaulniers, CEO of Nouveau Monde Graphite, about its Matawinie graphite project in Quebec, its all-electric mining operation and graphite’s future role in lithium ion battery anodes.",{"type":574,"attrs":595,"content":596},{"textAlign":49},[597],{"text":598,"type":579},"Benchmark Mineral Intelligence: You have recently started production of flake graphite tonnages from your mine in Quebec. It has been a generation since the last graphite mine began in North America. Can you outline why this has been and how the situation changed for you to begin production?",{"type":574,"attrs":600,"content":601},{"textAlign":49},[602,604],{"text":603,"type":579},"Eric Desaulniers:",{"text":605,"type":579}," Yes, the Lac-des-Iles graphite mine started operations in 1989. We all know what happened when the Chinese flooded the market 20-25 years ago. It took many years and the sharp increase in the graphite prices of 2010-12 before the industry could see a rise in the number of juniors looking for the next world-class graphite deposit. It’s at that time that our company was founded, money was raised, and the Matawinie discovery was made.",{"type":574,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":579},"Benchmark: The biggest graphite mine in North America was Imerys’ famous Lac-des- Iles operation in Quebec. You are in the same area. Is this a coincidence?",{"type":574,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614,616],{"text":615,"type":579},"ED:",{"text":617,"type":579}," It’s not a coincidence. We knew Imerys had survived the difficult years by not going head-to-head with the Chinese. They developed their client base, promoting their high-quality flake products and by also investing in value-added production. We knew their mine was getting depleted and therefore we set to explore over a large area of southern Quebec, looking for the next world-class deposit likely to bear the same graphite quality.",{"type":574,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":579},"The quality of our deposit and its top location have been key in convincing a very experienced team of graphite experts to join our company. In addition, we have access to great infrastructures and we are relatively close to the North-American customer base who buy the graphite produced at Lac-des-Iles.",{"type":574,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626],{"text":627,"type":579},"Benchmark: What is your long-term plan for the Matawinie graphite project?",{"type":574,"attrs":629,"content":630},{"textAlign":49},[631,632],{"text":615,"type":579},{"text":633,"type":579}," We filed our pre-feasibility study last fall with strong economics based on a 52k tpa (tonnes per annum) mine. Namely pre-tax NPV (net presen of $498.7 millions, pre-tax IRR (internal rate of return) of 32.4%, and strip ratio of 1.04 to 1. We are fully funded and on target for filing our bankable feasibility study during the fall of 2018 which will be based on an all-electric mine.",{"type":574,"attrs":635,"content":636},{"textAlign":49},[637],{"text":638,"type":579},"The recent works on our project allowed us to nearly triple our indicated resources, so we are now planning a 100k tpa mine starting in late 2021. Thanks to the very promising market outlook in the lithium ion segment, we are planning to sell about 30,000 tpa in the traditional markets, 10,000 tpa in the expandable market and our remaining production will be upgraded to spherical graphite for li-ion.",{"type":574,"attrs":640,"content":641},{"textAlign":49},[642],{"text":643,"type":579},"Currently, we are busy launching our demonstration plant and we will start production of 1,000 tonnes of flake graphite per year for the next two years. This plant will also be producing 250 tonnes of uncoated  purified spherical graphite and 100 tonnes of expandable graphite per year for the next two years. We intend to strategically sell this material to North American and European buyers with the aim of signing off-take agreements.",{"type":574,"attrs":645,"content":646},{"textAlign":49},[647],{"text":648,"type":579},"Benchmark: How far down the supply chain are you willing to go?",{"type":574,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"textAlign":49},[652,653],{"text":615,"type":579},{"text":654,"type":579}," We recently announced a partnership with Hydro-Québec (HQ). We not only licenced their patents for making anode materials, we also have a research program with these guys to optimise the process and bring the technology to the next level. HQ has a long history of involvement in the lithium ion battery industry. Their director isa world-renowned researcher in the field and they have over 60 staff on the lab’s payroll. It’s worth mentioning that their $20 million yearly  budget is fully funded from external sources and not from the utility itself. I think it speaks to the quality of their on-going research.",{"type":574,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658],{"text":659,"type":579},"Their installations on the south shore of Montreal are packed with high-end equipment that cost a fortune. I’m very optimistic of what we can achieve under this partnership and we are looking forward to becoming a large scale uncoated spherical graphite producer supplying the existing major anode material manufacturers like Hitachi and Posco Chemtech.",{"type":574,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663],{"text":664,"type":579},"Benchmark: A quite interesting twist on your mine is your aim to make it an all-electric operation. Quite apt considering graphite’s growing use in lithium ion battery anodes for electric vehicles. Can you explain more?",{"type":574,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"textAlign":49},[668,669],{"text":615,"type":579},{"text":670,"type":579}," Yes. Early last fall, we approached a few companies involved in the business of providing mining equipment or engineering services. We wanted to form a task-force committee with the mandate of studying the possibility of having all-electric mining operations for our proposed mine. We wanted to know if the equipment was already available but also ensure it would be wise to do so from a profitability standpoint.",{"type":574,"attrs":672,"content":673},{"textAlign":49},[674],{"text":675,"type":579},"The conclusion of the task-force committee is that the equipment is definitively available, but it also makes economic sense and that’s thanks to our cheap and readily available electricity at our project location. There is also the important benefit of likely achieving the lowest environmental footprint of the graphite industry.",{"type":574,"attrs":677,"content":678},{"textAlign":49},[679],{"text":680,"type":579},"This will be taken seriously as battery makers and EV manufacturers are increasingly under pressure to scrutinise their supply chains, making sure they source raw materials from ethically and environmentally sustainable sources.",{"type":574,"attrs":682,"content":683},{"textAlign":49},[684],{"text":685,"type":579},"Benchmark: Considering recent funding success for other battery raw material miners in Quebec…",{"type":574,"attrs":687,"content":688},{"textAlign":49},[689],{"text":690,"type":579},"(A) How important is the Quebec government in your development?",{"type":574,"attrs":692,"content":693},{"textAlign":49},[694,695],{"text":615,"type":579},{"text":696,"type":579}," The Quebec government is a key partner in our project. First of all, they provide a safe and predictable framework for permitting and operations, which is the foundation for a mining project requiring a lot of capital.",{"type":574,"attrs":698,"content":699},{"textAlign":49},[700],{"text":701,"type":579},"Talking about capital, the government through its agency Investissement Québec is one of our largest shareholders and they provide a significant portion of the capital needed to develop the project from exploration to production.",{"type":574,"attrs":703,"content":704},{"textAlign":49},[705],{"text":706,"type":579},"Through multiple programs related to green initiatives, we are applying for grants both at the Canadian and Quebec government level. Finally, through its subsidiary Hydro-Québec, the Quebec government pioneered the development of battery technologies and materials with work done that goes back to nearly 30 years ago. This is allowing us to have a strong R&D partner with a solid reputation and with their own interests that are aligned with our project.",{"type":574,"attrs":708,"content":709},{"textAlign":49},[710],{"text":711,"type":579},"(B) How important is the wider success of other battery minerals in the region and for North America as a whole?",{"type":574,"attrs":713,"content":714},{"textAlign":49},[715,716],{"text":615,"type":579},{"text":717,"type":579}," Obviously, to attract lithium ion battery makers in North America, the supply chain needs to develop on all fronts. The North American li-ion ecosystem is relatively healthy although we need to see more major battery plants being developed locally.",{"type":574,"attrs":719,"content":720},{"textAlign":49},[721],{"text":722,"type":579},"We are strong believers that in order to reduce costs in the future, the logistics will play an increasing role and li-ion batteries will need to be manufactured as close as possible to the end-users, similar to the mature lead acid battery market. The consumer market in North America will be massive. We believe more battery makers will make the choice of setting up factories here.",{"type":574,"attrs":724,"content":725},{"textAlign":49},[726],{"text":727,"type":579},"(C) How do you view graphite’s future role as a lithium ion battery anode especially considering it can also be synthetically sourced?",{"type":574,"attrs":729,"content":730},{"textAlign":49},[731,732],{"text":615,"type":579},{"text":733,"type":579}," Yes, it can be synthetically sourced but there are important caveats. Firstly, the price of the synthetic stuff is much higher than coated spherical purified graphite. The second thing is the capacity for making synthetic graphite is not growing and the needle coke feed stock for making it is limited as it is a by-product of oil refineries.",{"type":574,"attrs":735,"content":736},{"textAlign":49},[737],{"text":738,"type":579},"In the last year or so, the combined demand from li-ion battery makers and synthetic anodes manufacturers for foundries have caused a big increase in the price of the feed stock as well as the synthetic graphite end product. This has forced li-ion anode makers to increase their use of natural graphite. We believe what has discouraged historically li-ion anode makers from using more natural graphite was the inconsistency in the quality of the coated purified spherical graphite.",{"type":574,"attrs":740,"content":741},{"textAlign":49},[742],{"text":743,"type":579},"Perhaps, the way the mining and processing industries are setup in China with a number of artisanal mining operations feeding large processing houses such as BTR played a role in this inconsistency. We believe if we are successful in upgrading our medium and fine flakes to uncoated spherical graphite, and down the line to coated anode material, and that we are constantly within specs and with a very low environmental footprint, we will be very successful in selling this material at an attractive margin.",{"type":574,"attrs":745,"content":746},{"textAlign":49},[747],{"text":748,"type":579},"So, at a time where EV manufacturers and lithium ion battery makers are increasingly scrutinising their supply chains for sustainable raw materials, our low environmental footprint will be a strong marketing factor.",{"type":574,"attrs":750,"content":751},{"textAlign":49},[752],{"text":753,"type":579},"Benchmark: With battery producers and electric vehicle makers seeking to compress their supply chains, is there a market opportunity in North America?",{"type":574,"attrs":755,"content":756},{"textAlign":49},[757,758],{"text":615,"type":579},{"text":759,"type":579}," We believe the province of Quebec has a lot of important assets that could make it attractive as a place to setup operations for either a battery producer or an EV manufacturer. Quebec and the rest of Canada are rich with key raw materials for making  these batteries.",{"type":574,"attrs":761,"content":762},{"textAlign":49},[763],{"text":764,"type":579},"Nemaska Lithium, for example, is fully funded for building its commercial operations and there is our company with our world-class graphite deposit that can easily support a mine life of 27 years. There are cobalt, nickel and copper mining operations or ore deposits as well as rare earth deposits throughout the land.",{"type":574,"attrs":766,"content":767},{"textAlign":49},[768],{"text":769,"type":579},"The electric power produced by Hydro-Québec is 100% renewable and can cost as low as $0.03 USD cents per kWh if you’re a big industrial consumer. Battery makers could set up their own research or development programs with HQ’s battery research lab, much like what Sony has been doing for a few years already and what we are starting to do for developing our value-added battery material.",{"type":574,"attrs":771,"content":772},{"textAlign":49},[773],{"text":774,"type":579},"Benchmark: North America’s EV story has been heavily reliant on Tesla. Is this still the case today?",{"type":574,"attrs":776,"content":777},{"textAlign":49},[778,779],{"text":615,"type":579},{"text":780,"type":579}," Tesla is obviously a huge player in the EV industry. I think it’s fair to say that if it wasn’t for the hard work and bold moves of Elon Musk and company, the EV industry would still not be taken seriously. Tesla has had a huge impact in shaking the car industry, in competing head-to-head with mostly the luxury German brands and eating their lunch. No wonder VW’s brands, Daimler, Mercedes and BMW have all made big announcements, embracing the EV as the car of the future.",{"type":574,"attrs":782,"content":783},{"textAlign":49},[784],{"text":785,"type":579},"Tesla is clearly in the lead with their Supercharger network. For anyone wanting to make road trips with an EV, the Supercharger network is extremely convenient. We’re seeing more and more fast charging devices being installed across North America, for example, Electrify America which was born out of a plea by VW to invest $2 billion as part of the diesel scandal settlement of 2015.",{"type":574,"attrs":787,"content":788},{"textAlign":49},[789],{"text":790,"type":579},"I sincerely believe we are at the onset of a huge revolution in the transportation and energy industries. I’m also expecting the price of oil which has been on the rise for the last year or so to continue rising for the next few years. This will be driven mainly by the huge lowering of exploration capex following the 2014 oil crash. Conventional fields have a yearly natural decline of 5-7% and the industry is afraid to spend the billions of dollars on big projects which takes years to recoup investments. This fear has been mainly driven by the threat of rising output from the U.S. shale industry.",{"type":574,"attrs":792,"content":793},{"textAlign":49},[794],{"text":795,"type":579},"I don’t think US shale will be nearly enough to offset this natural decline and it does not produce the same crude quality either as it is very light oil. So, rising gasoline prices at the pump are likely to continue and this will be a nice strong back wind for the EV and battery industries.",{"type":574,"attrs":797,"content":798},{"textAlign":49},[799],{"text":800,"type":579},"Benchmark: What about other markets for graphite such as refractories, expandable and other specialities? Are there any markets that stand out for Nouveau Monde graphite?",{"type":574,"attrs":802,"content":803},{"textAlign":49},[804],{"text":805,"type":579},"ED: The goal of our project is to balance the production footprint specifics to our deposit with the proper marketing of products. It is important to constantly coordinate our operations and sales to make sure we diversify our business and optimise our margins. Thus, we are planning to be an active supplier in the traditional markets and we are developing our own expandable graphite process.",{"type":574,"attrs":807,"content":808},{"textAlign":49},[809],{"text":810,"type":579},"Developing value-added products adapted to the market needs is key for being successful in the graphite business. The current growth in the expandable graphite business is phenomenal with fewer deposits that are adapted to this process. Our significant proportion of +80 mesh products coupled with an excellent natural expandable ratio are giving us a head start to develop this market segment business.",{"type":574,"attrs":812,"content":813},{"textAlign":49},[814],{"text":815,"type":579},"Benchmark: Your company tag line is ‘Foster the Future’. What do you mean by this?",{"type":574,"attrs":817,"content":818},{"textAlign":49},[819],{"text":820,"type":579},"ED: We mean that we don’t only want to be there passively supplying the graphite that the market is asking for, we also want to be a driver for change. Our all-electric open pit mine is a direct example of this mind-set, where we really foster our future as a supplier. Thanks to this initiative, we are not only engaging with battery makers by selling them materials but we will also be buying battery packs from them and working with them in developing this application.",{"type":574,"attrs":822,"content":823},{"textAlign":49},[824],{"text":825,"type":579},"We are now engaging with much bigger open pit mining and quarry operators than ourselves to introduce them to our partners’ products and demonstrate the benefits of going electric. This market segment represents a multiple of thousands of construction trucks and related equipment on the world stage; there’s a lot of graphite needed to electrify this fleet!","There has not been a new flake graphite mine in North America since the Lac des Illes operation in Quebec opened its doors in 1989. A generation away, the world has changed significantly. China has become the dominant force shaping the flake graphite supply landscape yet new suppliers with differing strategies are for the first time challenging this superiority. In addition, lithium ion battery anodes are becoming an increasing […]",[828],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":829},{"job_title":565,"image":830,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"cb24ab42-6197-4447-a268-43b29fa57a5f\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[834,837,840],{"slug":835,"name":836},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":838,"name":839},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":841,"name":842},"graphite","Graphite","private",{"id":49,"alt":845,"name":845,"focus":845,"title":845,"source":845,"filename":846,"copyright":845,"fieldtype":847,"meta_data":848,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/95cc4da75b/bm-screen-shot-2018-08-07-at-100559.png","asset",{"alt":845,"title":845,"source":845,"copyright":845},"Aug 07, 2018","7th August 2018",[],[],1792769841866]