TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Private project developer Ontario Graphite has cleared the final permitting hurdle to restarting its flagship Kearney large-flake, high-carbon graphite mine in the province, paving the way for production to start in the fourth quarter.

The company on Monday said the Ontario Ministry of the Environment had approved all final operating permits for the recommissioning of the mine, located in Kearney, Ontario.

Ontario Graphite was now fully permitted and had all required approvals to begin operations at the Kearney mine, which was closed nearly two decades ago.

“The Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s decision to grant the remaining permits and approvals for this project marks a critical turning point towards beginning production at the Kearney mine,” Ontario Graphite GM Jerry Janik said in a statement.

The mine was expected to process about one-million tonnes of ore a year while producing 20 000 t of natural, large-flake, high-carbon graphite concentrate.

Ontario Graphite said it had several sustainability measures in place to reduce waste and energy use at Kearney, such as using the existing nongraphite-bearing rock on the property as a source of aggregate for third-party construction projects, and recycling about 85% of the water within the mine in the milling stage, reducing the need to use water from the surrounding lakes.

Restarting the mine was expected to rejuvenate the local community, by providing about 80 direct full-time jobs and potentially up to three times that number in spin-off positions.

The Kearney graphite mine was maintained since its closure in 1994 and is in compliance with all environmental and regulatory requirements.

Ontario Graphite said its capital expenditure programme would significantly improve the mine’s mining and milling processes and take advantage of its substantial existing infrastructure and mineral resources to support a mine life of more than 30 years.

Not only would the existing infrastructure provide the company with capital expense savings, but graphite samples generated from previous operations would enable the company to engage customers before starting production.

Graphite, unlike most other minerals, has multiple layers of demand. Industry analysts expect energy-based technologies to drive new demand for graphite.