Graphite concentrates of 99.99% Cg purity were achieved using a conventional low-temperature thermal purification process at one of North America’s premier metallurgical laboratories (For reasons of commercial confidentiality, Alabama Graphite Corp. is not disclosing the identity of the metallurgical laboratory contracted for the Company’s ongoing graphite purification work).
The purification trials were conducted on graphite concentrates produced by SGS Mineral Services ("SGS") of Lakefield, Ontario. The trials were based on a total product mix and were carried out across the total flake-size distribution (including, large-, medium- and fine-flake size fractions), in order to achieve a full-spectrum sampling of the Coosa Graphite Project’s graphitic material and its demonstrated purity.
Alabama Graphite Co-CEO Donald Baxter said: "Today marks another major milestone for AGC. The achievement of 99.99% Cg from the initial run of purification testing — without any optimization — only reaffirms our belief in the exceptional quality of the graphite material hosted on our Coosa property. These high-purity levels are required for graphite used in many high-value applications, namely Lithium-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles and grid storage/stationary batteries, but also in portable electronic applications, which represent a significant and growing market with enduring future demand.
"AGC will now move forward with larger scale testing designed to optimize the purification process and further improve these excellent results. We have now begun sizing (micronization), shaping (spheronization) and carbon coating of our Coosa graphite material — known as coated spherical natural graphite or CSPG (see the Company’s June 25, 2015 announcement) — to meet the requirements for use in Li-ion batteries, specifically for electric vehicles. "
As announced on September 15, 2015, construction of the Company’s Coosa Graphite Project pilot plant is currently underway, with mechanical commissioning planned for September 30, 2015. AGC’s pilot plant was designed, built, and will be operated by SGS and managed by graphite-industry veteran metallurgist Oliver Peters, MSc, P.Eng., MBA (Consulting Metallurgist for SGS and Principal Metallurgist of Metpro Management Inc.).
The Coosa Graphite Project’s pilot plant will provide several tons of graphite concentrate from a process more representative of the quality that would be expected from a significantly larger-scale, optimized process and, additionally, will feed the Company’s specialty CSPG graphite process initiatives. This will allow Alabama Graphite Corp. to provide larger-sized samples to meet current numerous requests from end-users for testing purposes.
