TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Graphite junior Great Lakes Graphite has received three new orders for 60 t of micronized graphite from the same US-based customer that bought 420 t of the carbon allotrope in 2016.
“We are continuing to work towards the establishment of a supply agreement and are pleased to continue to conduct business on a purchase order basis in the meantime. We have now received a total of 23 purchase orders from this customer,” VP of sales Mike Coscia stated on Wednesday.
Micronized graphite products are increasingly being sought by North American technology manufacturers for the critical role these play in lithium-ion batteries, which has seen an expanding regional customer base and rising prices as demand continues to intensify.
"We are making excellent progress with a number of product qualifications that are currently under way and are looking forward to expanding our customer base. In the meantime, we are extremely fortunate to have a steady customer who is now routinely purchasing significant quantities of graphite from us,” Coscia added.
Great Lakes is party to an agreement for shared use of a portion of an industrial facility located in Matheson, Ontario, and owned by Northfil Resources, as well as for supply of high-quality natural graphite concentrate.
Last year, the company easily beat its internal sales target of 350 t within the first six months of operations at the Matheson micronization plant. The 2017 business anticipates sales of 3 500 t, with the company being optimistic about achieving the lofty goal based on discussions with current and potential customers.