공지 • Aug 30
Graphite One Inc. Advances Its United States Graphite Supply Chain Solution Demonstrating Pre-tax USD 1.9 Billion NPV (8%), 26.0% IRR and 4.6 Year Payback on its Integrated Project
Graphite One Inc. announced the results of its Pre-Feasibility Study of the Graphite One Project. Parallel strategy to simultaneously develop a commercial scale battery anode materials manufacturing facility in Washington State and the Graphite Creek Mine in Alaska. Manufacturing would begin with purchased materials until Alaska production is available. Pre-tax internal rate of return of 26.0%, using an 8% discount rate, with a net present value of USD 1.93 billion and a payback period of 4.6 years. Post-tax internal rate of return of 22.0%, using an 8% discount rate, with net present value of USD 1.36 billion and a payback period of 5.1 years, before accounting for tax credits enacted by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, effective December 31, 2022. Measured plus Indicated resources increased 197% over 2019 results. Inferred resources increased 177%. The Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS") of the Graphite One Project was prepared by JDS Energy & Mining Inc. with assistance from various independent technical consultants. The Graphite One Project (the "Project") is planned as an integrated business operation to produce lithium ion battery anode materials and other graphite products for the U.S domestic market on a commercial scale using primarily natural graphite from Alaska. Permitting and construction of the STP is estimated to take 3 years. The STP would operate during the first four years by processing purchased graphite. The Mine would begin production in the third year of STP operation and begin supplying graphite to the STP in its fourth year of operation. By the fifth year, it is anticipated that Alaska graphite would supply 100% of the STP's planned natural graphite requirement at full capacity. If the Mine begins production sooner, purchased graphite would be reduced accordingly. Graphite One's production is expected to qualify under the Act for tax credits in both categories as it plans to produce both anode materials and Purified Graphite in the United States, as defined in the Act. The Company will evaluate the Act's impact on the PFS economics and announce the results when available. The impact is expected to improve the post-tax results. Based on the PFS's updated graphite resource estimate, the Mine's life for the purposes of the PFS is 23 years. The PFS assumes the STP's operational life is 26 years based on its startup with purchased graphite and continued operation with graphite from the Mine. On average over its life, the STP would produce about 75,000 tonnes per year of products. About 49,600 tpy would be anode materials, 7,400 tpy purified graphite products, and 18,000 tpy of unpurified graphite products. The anode materials are comprised of four products: CPN: Coated, spherical natural graphite; Purchased graphite prices have been supported by non-binding indications of supply from current producers. Also presented are the average annual production costs for the life of the Project on both the basis of annual totals and costs per tonne of production. The STP is designed to produce lithium ion battery anode materials on a commercial scale for the U.S. domestic market using natural graphite from Alaska as soon as it is available. At full capacity, it requires about 34.5 hectares (85 acres) of land, consists of 17 buildings, and would annually produce about 77,000 tonnes of manufactured graphite products. The products are grouped into battery anode materials, specialty purified graphite products, and traditional unpurified graphite products. The products are manufactured from natural graphite concentrate, artificial graphite precursors, coke and pitch. Key components of the manufacturing process are the purification of natural graphite and graphitization of artificial graphite precursors in high temperature, electrically heated furnaces. The STP's preferred location is in Washington State to access both its relatively lower power rates from hydro generated electricity and its skilled workforce. Permitting and construction of the STP, once its design is finalized, is expected to take three years. The STP would be constructed in two phases, each with almost identical equipment and production capacity. An exception is that Phase 2 has three furnace lines, Phase 1 has two. Phase 1 is assumed to operate at 90% capacity for the first year to allow for start up adjustments. Thereafter it would operate at full capacity. Phase 2 would come on stream in Year 2 and the STP would operate at full capacity. The STP, at full capacity, is designed to produce 51,167 tpy of anode materials for the electric vehicle and energy storage battery markets; 7,585 tpy of purified, sized material for the speciality graphite market; and 18,622 tpy for the unpurified, traditional graphite market. Total annual production would be 77,374 tonnes based on the expected annual production capacity. The average annual production over 26 years in the PFS is 75,026 tonnes. The Mine would produce an average of 51,813 tonnes per year of graphite concentrate for the projected 23-year mine life. The deposit would be mined with conventional open pit mining methods including drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling. The strip ratio in the PFS plan is 2.2:1 with an ore cut-off grade of 2.0% graphitic carbon and an average head grade of 5.6% graphitic carbon. The pit would be mined in six phases over a period of 24 years. One year of pre-stripping would occur prior to the start-up of the process facility. Ore will be hauled to a process facility which would be built adjacent to the pit. Run of mine waste would be comingled with dewatered process tails and placed in waste dumps. The process facility would process an average of 2,860 tpd for 365 days per year. The flowsheet design is based on metallurgical test work conducted at SGS Canada Inc.'s facilities at Lakefield, Ontario. The flowsheet consists of a jaw crusher that feeds a semiautogenous grinding circuit. After grinding, the ore is subjected to a series of seven flotation/regrind steps. The flotation/regrind steps are designed to recover the graphite at its largest possible flake size while still maintaining a concentrate with a graphitic carbon grade of greater than 95%. The graphite concentrate would be filtered and dried on site. The dried concentrate would be bagged and shipped by barge from Nome, Alaska to the STP in Washington during the annual shipping season. The tails from the flotation circuit would be dewatered, comingled with the waste rock, and placed in a lined waste storage facility. Any drainage from the lined waste storage facility would be treated through a water treatment plant prior to discharge.