OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sep 30, 2013) - Northern
Graphite Corporation (TSX
VENTURE:NGC)(OTCQX:NGPHF) announces that it has developed
a proprietary process for purifying concentrates from its 100%
owned Bissett Creek graphite project and has consistently and
economically achieved 99.95%+C purity levels in extensive
independent laboratory and bench scale testing. High purity
graphite is required for many value added and rapidly growing
graphite applications including lithium ion batteries ("LiBs").
For the past two
years Northern Graphite has been working with research laboratories
and testing facilities in Canada and the US, and equipment
manufacturers in the US and Japan, to develop an alternative to the
wet chemical purification process used in China and the thermal
process commonly used elsewhere. The wet chemical process uses
hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acid and is low cost if the waste
products are not neutralized. This is generally the case in China
and creates a huge environmental issue in terms of soil and water
pollution. The chemical process is also used to purify spherical
graphite, the product used in LiBs. This approach is not
sustainable in the long term as demand for LiBs is expected to grow
rapidly with the increased adoption of "green" hybrid and all
electric vehicles. The thermal purification process is expensive
due to the capital and operating costs of furnaces needed to
achieve temperatures of 2400?+C.
Northern Graphite
has completed bulk sample and pilot plant testing which provided a
representative sample of the concentrates that will be produced
from the commercial process. Extensive laboratory scale testing on
these concentrates resulted in a process that successfully purified
micronized, spherical and flake graphite to 99.95%+C levels. This
process has subsequently been tested in bench scale models of
commercial equipment and spherical graphite with 99.95%+C purity
has been consistently produced. Flake graphite purities as high as
99.9%C have been achieved at the bench scale and further
optimization work is ongoing.
Companies that
Northern Graphite worked with in perfecting the purification
process included Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc., Hazen Research,
Hosokawa Micron Powder Systems, Harper International Corp., Nara
Machinery Co. Ltd., AAAmachine Japan Inc. and the National Research
Council of Canada.
Gregory Bowes, Chief
Executive Officer of Northern Graphite commented that: "Our goal is
to provide customers with a secure source of competitively priced
spherical graphite that is produced in an environmentally
acceptable manner. Our consultants estimate that purification costs
will be less than $1,000 per tonne." He added that: "Consumers
buying products that use LiBs should all be asking where the
graphite in them comes from."
The total worldwide
graphite market is estimated at $13 billion dollars per annum. The
natural graphite market, consisting of both flake and amorphous
graphite, makes up less than $1 billion of the total. The balance
of approximately $12 billion is synthetic graphite which consists
of graphite electrodes for electric arc furnaces, carbon fibers for
composite materials and specialty blocks and pieces for many
different applications. These three types of synthetic graphite are
made from special raw materials such as petroleum coke and do not
use any type of natural graphite. Natural graphite does not have
the properties to be used in producing or replacing synthetic
graphite regardless of purity. There are smaller, crossover markets
where micronized, purified natural graphite does compete with
powder or granular synthetic graphite, including spherical graphite
for LiBs. This is the largest and fastest growing part of the "high
purity" powdered graphite market. The spherical natural graphite
market is estimated at 25,000 tonnes per year which requires 75,000
tonnes of flake graphite to make because yields are only 33%. The
specialty powder synthetic graphite market is also estimated at
25,000 tonnes per year.
Only natural flake
graphite that can be economically rounded and purified to 99.95%+C
can be used to make spherical graphite. Spherical graphite
manufactured from natural graphite has certain performance
advantages and is much lower cost than powdered synthetic graphite
specially produced for LiBs. Prices for high purity (99.95%+C)
natural graphite are currently in the $3,000 to $4,000 per tonne
range and up to $10,000 per tonne with the addition of special
coatings needed for use in LiBs.
Northern Graphite
has already produced spherical graphite and successfully tested it
in batteries. The Company is currently optimizing the process based
on feedback from potential customers and partners and is working on
its own proprietary coating process.
Northern
Graphite Corporation
Northern Graphite
Corporation is a Canadian company that has a 100% interest in the
Bissett Creek graphite deposit located in eastern Ontario. Northern
is the only graphite company that has completed a bankable
Feasibility Study and is permitted for construction. Graphite
demand is expected to rapidly increase in the future due to
strengthening economies and the growth in new technologies such as
LiBs, particularly due to their use in hybrid and all electric
vehicles. Northern Graphite is well positioned to benefit from this
compelling supply/demand dynamic with a high purity, large flake,
scalable deposit that is located close to infrastructure.
Additional information on Northern Graphite can be found at
www.sedar.com and www.northerngraphite.com.
Renmark
Financial
Northern Graphite is
also pleased to announce that it has retained the services of
Renmark Financial Communications Inc. to handle its investor
relations activities because its standards and methodologies fit
best with the message the Company wishes to communicate to the
investing public. In consideration of the IR services to be
provided, Northern Graphite has agreed pay Renmark a retainer of
$5,000 per month from October 1st, 2013 cancellable by either party
on 30 days notice. Renmark does not have any interest, directly or
indirectly, in Northern Graphite or its securities, or any right or
intent to acquire such an interest.
This press release
contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the
use of statements that include words such as "could", "potential",
"believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "likely",
"will" or other similar words or phrases. These statements are only
current predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our
industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by
the forward-looking statements. The Company does not
intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, unless otherwise required by applicable
securities laws. Readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements.
Neither TSX
Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term
is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
