Critical minerals explorer Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG) on Monday announced an agreement to acquire 100% of Mason Resources’ Lac Guéret graphite deposit, in Quebec, securing an asset that will underpin its planned expansion.

Lac Guéret is targeted for the development of the Uatnan mining project, which will produce about 500 000 t/y of graphite concentrate over 24 years, making it one of the world’s biggest graphite projects in development.

“With its very large, high-quality natural graphite deposit, the acquisition of the Lac Guéret deposit represents a strategically important move by NMG,” said chairperson Arne Frandsen.

“This addition of a world-class asset to NMG’s portfolio of resources underpins the company’s growth prospects and commercial attractiveness,” he said.

NMG is working towards developing a fully-integrated source of carbon neutral battery anode material in Quebec. The company is advancing the Matawinie mine and Becancour battery materials plant as its Phase 2 development, targeting 103 328 t/y of high-purity flake graphite concentrate at Matawinie and 42 616 t/y of anode material and 3 004 t/y of purified jumbo flakes at the battery materials plant.

The Uatnan project will secure NMG’s Phase 3 expansion plans.

The company is in active commercial discussions with tier-one battery and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, including Panasonic, for its planned production.

NMG founder, president and CEO Eric Desaulniers said he was confident in the current and future demand for ethically sourced and environmentally produced graphite-based anode material.

“NMG is set to match the sustained market growth with a robust expansion plan now secured in the Uatnan mining project.”

Late last year, China and the US sharpened their respective trade instruments targeting graphite materials. China now enforces restrictions on Chinese graphite materials exports. The US government has indicated that battery material sourced from China and other foreign entities of concern will not be eligible for EV tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. These recent political developments reaffirm the importance of establishing a local, resilient, and ESG-compliant graphite supply chain to support battery and EV production.

In terms of the new transaction, NMG will acquire Mason’s Lac Gueret property, which consists among other things of 74 map-designated claims totalling 3 999.52 ha, for 6.21-million shares. A payment of $5-million will be made to Mason at the start of commercial production of the contemplated Uatnan project.

The asset purchase agreement supersedes and terminates the previously announced investment agreement and option and joint venture agreement between NMG and Mason.