Northern Graphite Corp said it is currently the only significant producer of graphite in North America and will become the third-largest outside China when its Namibian operations resume in the first half of the year. 2023.
The forecast is incorporated into the company’s second-quarter 2022 results, which include two months of operations at the Lac des Iles graphite mine in Quebec, which Northern Graphite acquired in late April 2022.
The company also has two major development projects, Bissett Creek in Ontario and Okanjande in Namibia, which will be a source of continued growth in production going forward.
Northern Graphite has been focused on Bissett Creek until recently acquiring of two graphite mines from French industrial miner Imerys Group for $40 million, a move Northern Graphite has described as ” transformation” for the company.
These assets include the producing Lac des Iles graphite mine and the Okanjande graphite mine/Okorusu processing plant in Namibia. The Namibia project is jointly owned by Imerys and a joint venture partner.
Northern Graphite says it is preparing a preliminary economic assessment for the construction of a new large processing plant at the Okanjande mine that could produce between 100,000 and 150,000 tonnes of concentrated graphite per year for the market. electric vehicle/battery.
In the meantime, a new waste storage dam is needed and work is underway to enable and collect the necessary geotechnical and geochemical design information.
Hugues Jacquemin, Northern CEO, said: “The release of our second quarter results is another significant milestone in Northern’s transformation from a growing company into a growing company. producer with positive revenue, operating profit and a strong cash position.”
“Being the only significant graphite producer in North America is off to a good start, and we intend to aggressively build on this position through continued growth in production, acquisitions and acquisitions,” he said. invest downstream”.
Meanwhile, the highlights of Q2 include:
May and June 2022 processed 38,500 tons of ore, and low-grade reserves were at an average of 6.6%.
produced 2,523 tons of graphite concentrate, the recovery rate was 89.7%.
The average purity of the concentrate is 96%.
Revenue of $3.7 million was generated based on the sale of 1,773 tons at an average price of $2,083/ton ($1,623/ton).
The cash cost per ton of graphite concentrate is US$1,276 (US$994).
An operating loss of $1.5 million was recorded, covering general and administrative costs as well as program evaluation, acquisition, and integration costs.
As of June 30, 2022, cash, restricted cash and equivalents are $17.7 million.
Shares of Northern Graphite rose 3.2%, or $0.02, to 64 cents on Wednesday. The stocks traded over a 52-week range of 94 cents and 33 cents, respectively.