Focus Graphite announces feasibility study update for Lac Knife Graphite Project

Focus Graphite Inc. of Kingston, ON, has announced the results of its Feasibility Study Update (FSU) for the Lac Knife Project, its 100% owned, high-grade crystalline flake graphite deposit located about 27 km south-southwest of Fermont in the Côte-Nord administrative region of Québec.

The Lac Knife Project is located on the Nitassinan (ancestral lands) of the Innu community of Innu Takuaikan Uashat mak Mani-utenam (ITUM).

Results from the FSU indicate that the Project is viable economically with a Base Case scenario that includes a concentrator production line rate of 47,781 tonnes of flake graphite concentrate annually at an average mill feed rate of 365,320 tonnes per year of Mineral Reserves over a 27-year mine life.

A concentrator availability of 93% was used for the FSU. The Project’s additional Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources will continue to be evaluated to develop the mid- and long-term growth profile for the Company.

The FSU was prepared by DRA Global Limited with assistance from various independent technical consultants.

“This feasibility study update marks a new significant milestone in the development of the Lac Knife Project,” said Marc Roy, president and CEO of Focus Graphite. “It confirms that the project hosts a graphite deposit with an average graphitic carbon (Cg) grade of 99.7% in +80 mesh flake concentrate, which is exceptional in this industry. With the FSU in hand, Focus is ready to take the next step, which is to complete the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) study for Lac Knife and then move the Project through the Québec Government environmental review and public consultation process towards mine permitting.”

The FSU for the Lac Knife Project comes at a time when interest in developing a secure, North American source of high purity large flake graphite is on the rise. North American and European electric vehicle (EV) markets are set to expand significantly over the next two decades in an effort to get road emissions to carbon neutrality by 2050 and as governments enact industrial policies aimed at domestic development of EV supply chains. Furthermore, new EVs will be powered by batteries that require significant amounts of high-quality graphite.

The Project is designed as a stand-alone business operation to produce a line of high purity flake graphite concentrates destined mainly for the North American and European battery anode materials industry and for other specialty applications using natural flake graphite from Québec. The updated Project feasibility study positions Focus to become a leading supplier of these graphite concentrates to EV battery manufacturers.

Above: Lac Knife, Quebec.