Globe & Mail 09:23 AM EST, 03/11/2021 (MT Newswires) -- Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NOU.V) on Thursday reported the completion of a Front-End Loading, or FEL-1, engineering analysis for Phase 2 of its large-scale commercial lithium-ion anode material project in Becancour, Quebec.
The company, whose shares dropped 0.52% yesterday here in Canada, rose about 3.9% in Frankfurt afternoon trading.
The FEL-1 analysis found that a production of 42,000 tons per annum of anode material and 3,000 tons per anum of purified flakes can be achieved with the construction of a new facility on Nouveau Monde's industrial site of 200,000 kilometers squared and supported by its existing Phase 1 plant infrastructure.
The FEL-1 includes a review of all environmental regulations and permits, the project schedule, product specifications definition, stakeholders' analysis, the capital expenditure budget, and projected operating costs, the company said.
Also, the company plans to finance the Becancour VAP project with a structure involving about two thirds comprised of non-dilutive financial instruments and the remaining one-third of equity financing. The company's largest shareholder, The Pallinghurst Group, is supporting the Becancour VAP project.
Nouveau Monde has initiated a FEL-2 pre-feasibility study, based on the results from the demonstration modules, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022. The company currently expects the first production lines of the Phase 2 Becancour VAP project will commence their commissioning in the first quarter of 2025.
The Phase 2 of the Becancour VAP project is designed to receive about 60 kilotonnes per annum of flake graphite from Nouveau Monde's own Matawinie mineral project, or from alternative third-party sources, to be transformed into about 42 ktpa of anode material, 3 ktpa of purified flakes and 14 ktpa of micronised graphite representing a valuable process by-product.
As part of its commitment to carbon neutrality, Nouveau Monde seeks to contribute to the decarbonization of the economy by producing graphite materials, a required input for the production of low-carbon products, with the smallest greenhouse gas, or GHG, footprint possible. The company also pledged to offset all GHG emissions from sources it either has direct control over or may significantly influence.
The offsetting costs are estimated at US$11.86/ t CO2 eq per ton of CSPG produced and represent about US$202,000 annually. On a per-product basis, this represents approximately US$3.83 per ton of CSPG product and US$2.01 per ton of by-product.
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