Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:32pm EDT
* Stock up to C$1 after opening at C
.90
* Funds to be used to build Bisset Creek graphite mine
TORONTO, April 20 (Reuters) - Shares of Northern Graphite, a junior miner with a project in northern Ontario, rose 11 percent in their Canadian stock market debut on Wednesday.
Shares in the company, which is betting its fortunes on the global proliferation of lithium ion batteries, were at C$1 on the TSX Venture Exchange at mid-afternoon after opening at 90 Canadian cents.
Northern Graphite sold 8 million common shares in its offering at C
.50 each. The shares trade under the stock market symbol NGC.V.
Northern Graphite will use the proceeds of the initial public offering to advance its Bisset Creek graphite mine. It hopes to start construction on the northern Ontario mine within a year.
The project has the potential to produce about 20,000 tonnes of flake graphite a year, the company has said.
The mine is a bet on global proliferation of lithium ion batteries - which use 10 times as much graphite as they do lithium - as well as on fuel cells and nuclear power.
Graphite prices have more than doubled in recent years in concert with rising demand for all species of industrial minerals from Asia, including rare earth elements.
($1=
.95 Canadian) (Reporting by Pav Jordan; editing by Peter Galloway)