Second TRANSFORMATION

Value Added Project

VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS (VAP)

The second transformation offers a multitude of possibilities

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS FOR VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS

  • Metallic powders and alloys
  • Alkaline batteries
  • Li-ion batteries
  • Fuel cells
  • Flow batteries
  • Carbon brushes
  • Flame retardants
  • Brake pads and clutch facings
  • Insulation
  • Plastics, resins, and rubbers
  • Catalysts
  • Fabrics and fibres
  • Pencils
  • Lubricants
  • Paints

SPHERICAL GRAPHITE FOR Li-iON BATTERIES

A Brief History

  • Corporate vision combining 1st and 2nd transformation already in 2012.
  • Project started in 2015.
  • Products and processes developed with expert partners: NRC | COREM | Centre de technologie minéraleet de plasturgie (CTMP) | CTTÉI | Dundee Sustainable Technologies | LiBTec.
  • Acquisition and installation of pilot equipment + first pilot campaign in 2019.
  • Completion of cycling tests in three independent laboratories on the pilot product.

Highlight

  • Proven performance in commercial-grade Li-ion batteries.

  • Industrial approach: 4 years of development | +$5M investment | A pilot plant.

COATED SPHERICAL GRAPHITE FOR Li-iON

Lac Guéret project to feed the required concentrate for Value Added Products (VAP)

The VAP plant will be directly fed from Mason Graphite’s own concentrate; this concentrate will be transformed into a multitude of products*.

 

Mason Graphite’s ambition is to become a fully integrated graphite producer. 

Technical and economic study (2020)

High-level | Accuracy of -20%/+30.

Excellent results.

Feasibility study to follow.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

An industrial approach

Comparative Analysis

  • Validation protocols

  • Identification of market needs

Transformation

  • Product design

  • Product characterization

  • Pilot program

  • Production and testing of battery materials on a kg scale

Final Testing Period

  • Performance tests

  • Lifespan tests

  • Many operating piloting operations for Li-ion battery products launched since 2019

Industrialization

  • Detail engineering

  • Construction

  • Production

  • Development in phases

The design of a generic grade for traditional Li-ion batteries as well as a grade for electric vehicles is based on information (customer specifications) collected by Mason Graphite and National Resources Council of Canada. The design of a graphite-silicon anode material is done in partnership with CNRC.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPHERICAL GRAPHITE

Battery test results from a pilot batch of spherical graphite for Li-ion (VAP) batteries are positive. 

  • The product proposed by Mason Graphite has physicochemical and electrochemical values similar to the commercial products currently available on the market.

Typical physiochemical properties

PSD

(d50 μm)

Purity

(%C)

BET Surface

(m2/g)

Tapped Density

(g/cm3)

Mason Graphite Product

18-20

>99.95

~3.0

>1.1

Electrochemical Testing

Spherical graphite produced at pilot scale from Lac Guéret successfully tested, reaching 1,000 cycles while retaining 80.6% of the initial capacity (see press release dated June 7th, 2021).

 

The cycling tests were performed under the following conditions:

 

  • Complete prototype pouch cells, assembled and tested at NRC;
  • Cathode: NMC532 type;
  • Cycling rate: C/3, meaning 3 hours to charge and 3 hours to discharge (hence about 4 full cycles per day);
  • Capacity retention calculated on the discharge capacity, with respect to the first cycle.