NMG starts commissioning its coating line completing its integrated anode material production & discloses Annual General Meeting voting results.
Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (“NMG”, “Nouveau Monde” or the “Company”) (NYSE: NMG, TSXV: NOU) held its hybrid Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders (the “Meeting”) from its Phase-1 plant in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, an occasion to showcase its brand-new coating line with a nameplate capacity of 2,000 tonnes per annum (“tpa”).
Completing the Company’s integrated anode material production, from ore to battery material, the coating module was built over H1-2022 to complement NMG’s portfolio of advanced materials.
The ultimate beneficiation step, coating is instrumental to battery technology. Coating helps create a stable electrolyte interface layer in the battery system and increase initial coulombic efficiency and discharge capacity, thus extending the battery performance over time.
With this addition, NMG now operates the only fully integrated North American natural graphite production and is positioned to provide customers with a variety of customizable high-purity advanced materials to meet their specifications, desired environmental footprint, and quality standards.
Arne H Frandsen, Chair of NMG, said:
NMG’s scaled development plan has reached a significant milestone: Phase 1 now covers the full value chain!
“From extraction and concentration to advanced processing and battery testing in our laboratory, we have engineered processes, designed operations, and built facilities that demonstrate our proprietary technologies and production capability.”
“This constitutes a springboard for executing our Phase 2 to develop what is projected to be North America’s largest fully integrated natural graphite operation. As an early mover, timing is superb for NMG considering the pressure battery and electric vehicles (“EV”) manufacturers are experiencing due to growth in demand for cleantech and limited raw materials.”
NMG’s innovative coating technology is projected to generate up to 25% energy reduction compared to the dominant manufacturing operations, with a minimal environmental footprint thanks to the Company’s access to clean hydropower and its strong ESG operational parameters.
The technology built in this Phase 1 is planned to be replicated and scaled up for the Phase-2 Bécancour Battery Material Plant, for a planned 42,000-tpa production at the commercial level. The Company’s engineering team in collaboration with specialized firms have secured a technology that provides versatility for the use of different precursors as research and development advances.
Cold commissioning of the kiln and utilities is underway with NMG’s and the equipment’s supplier technical team onsite; hot commissioning is expected to start shortly after with the objective of processing the first tonne of material at the beginning of Q3-2022.
The Company expects stable production by the end of Q3-2022 to support product qualification, operational optimization, and detailed engineering of the Phase 2 Bécancour Battery Material Plant.
Eric Desaulniers, Founder, President, and CEO of NMG, commented:
I am extremely proud of our team who has delivered a highly technical project safely and on budget amidst a complex environment shaken by logistical turbulences, labor shortages and rising inflation.
“We are now set to provide a turnkey supply of anode material to our potential customers, reinforcing our active commercial discussions and bringing us one step closer to signing an offtake agreement with a strategic anchor customer.”
Spherical purified graphite (“SPG”) extracted from the Company’s Matawinie deposit and produced through its Phase-1 concentrator, shaping unit and purification facility, will be refined with a nano layer of carbon to qualify the material for anode application.
Production of coated spherical purified graphite (“CSPG”) in commercial-like settings, with NMG’s ore, technology and facilities, further advances commercial discussions with potential customers with a view towards the completion of an offtake agreement.
Matters Voted upon at the Meeting and Results
The Company also announced the results of voting at the Meeting. Each of the seven nominees listed in the Company’s management information circular dated May 12, 2022, provided in connection with the Meeting were elected as directors of the Company.
Shareholders also adopted all other resolutions submitted for their approval, including the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the auditors of the Company to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of the Company and the authority given to directors to set its compensation, and the ratification and confirmation of the stock option plan of the Company.
The complete voting results for each item of business are as follows:
Election of Directors
| Name of Nominee | Votes in Favor | % Votes in Favor | Votes Withheld | % Votes Withheld |
| Daniel Buron | 27,047,382 | 99.38% | 169,213 | 0.62% |
| Eric Desaulniers | 27,195,576 | 99.92% | 21,019 | 0.08% |
| Arne H Frandsen | 26,278,327 | 96.55% | 938,268 | 3.45% |
| Jürgen Köhler | 27,188,195 | 99.90% | 28,400 | 0.10% |
| Nathalie Pilon | 27,202,861 | 99.95% | 13,734 | 0.05% |
| James Scarlett | 27,034,959 | 99.33% | 181,636 | 0.67% |
| Andrew Willis | 27,164,762 | 99.81% | 51,833 | 0.19% |
Appointment and Compensation of Auditors
| Votes in Favor | % Votes in Favor | Votes Withheld | % Votes Withheld |
| 30,130,892 | 99.81% | 56,359 | 0.19% |
Ratification and Confirmation of the Company’s Stock Option Plan
| Votes in Favor | % Votes in Favor | Votes Against | % Votes Against |
| 26,120,204 | 95.97% | 1,096,391 | 4.03% |
Details of the voting results on all matters considered at the Meeting are available in the Company’s report of voting results, which is available under Nouveau Monde’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.
About Nouveau Monde Graphite
Nouveau Monde is striving to become a key contributor to the sustainable energy revolution. The Company is working towards developing a fully integrated source of carbon-neutral battery anode material in Québec, Canada for the growing lithium-ion and fuel cell markets.
With low-cost operations and enviable ESG standards, Nouveau Monde aspires to become a strategic supplier to the world’s leading battery and automobile manufacturers, providing high-performing and reliable advanced materials while promoting sustainability and supply chain traceability.
Highlights:
- Construction of NMG’s coating unit essentially completed safely and on budget; cold commissioning is now underway.
- The only operational integrated North American natural graphite production, from mine to battery material: NMG now has the facilities to fully support the anode material qualification with its potential customers.
- The coating line completes the development of NMG’s Phase 1, providing a strong foundation for the scale up to full commercial operations for 100,000 tpa of high-purity flake graphite at the Matawinie Mine and 42,000 tpa of CSPG at the Bécancour Battery Material Plant.
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NMG Starts Commissioning its Coating Line Completing its Integrated Anode Material Production & Discloses Annual General Meeting Voting Results, Montreal, Canada, June 17, 2022
