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Canada

Lac des Iles Mine

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Summary

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Graphite
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Lac des Iles (LDI) graphite mine has been in operation for over 30 years and is the only flake graphite producer in North America.

The updated mineral resource estimate in early 2024 creates potential to extend the life of the LDI by approximatively 8 years, which will be confirmed and quantified through an updated mineral reserve estimate and life-of-mine plan.

Northern is finalizing the study of different operating scenarios with respect to opening a new pit adjacent to the current one as reserves in the existing pit and mine stockpiles will only sustain operations until the fall of 2025.

An investment of up to $10 million will be required to open the new pit and it will require a lead time of approximately six months to begin producing. The Company is pursuing a number of options for raising the necessary financing.

Northern also has the Mousseau deposit, which has the potential to further extend LDI’s life.
Latest NewsNorthern Graphite Announces 2024 Year-End Results     May 1, 2025

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Northern Graphite Corp. 100 % Indirect
Graphite Nordique Inc. (operator) 100 % Direct
The Lac des Iles graphite mine (LDI) is operated by Graphite Nordique Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northern Graphite Corp. The mining title is fully registered to Graphite Nordique Inc.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Metamorphic
  • Stratabound

Summary:

Graphite mineralization at the Quarry is hosted in a strongly folded marble unit within a paragneiss host rock, and mineralization is characteristic of flake graphite. Internal waste units of paragneiss and intrusive rocks have been identified within the marble. The fold hinge line is oriented approximately north-south and the hinge plane dips to the east at approximately 40° to 50° to nearly horizontal towards the south end of the deposit. Unconsolidated Pleistocene deposits are widespread in the area and overlay the deposit.

The mineralization consists of large graphite flakes and is commonly associated with regular banding of paragneiss, conforming to beds. The protolith is thought to comprise a clayey-carbonate sandstone. A change in the depositional environment resulted in the precipitation of a carbonate platform rich in organic matter with variable carbon content. A subsequent event of terrigenoussedimentation deposited sandstone with clay horizons on top of the carbonaceous carbonate platform.

High pressures and temperatures associated with the Grenville orogeny transformed the sedimentary protoliths to biotite gneiss, graphitic limestone marbles, and garnet gneiss that outcrop at the Quarry. The graphite mineralization is thought to be associated with the transformation of organic matter during metamorphism together with the contribution of deep fluids rich in CO2 resulting in graphitic limestone marbles. Slow cooling of the mineralized material has produced crystalline large flake graphite.

Graphite mineralization is associated with limestone marbles. The marbles are zoned with respect to calcite content: the core is characterized by a higher calcite content (“soft ore”) that becomes more silicious (“hard ore”) with the introduction of diopside towards its margin. The calcite zonation is thought to reflect the chemical composition of the protolith. The change in calcite content is gradational within the marble, and the contact between the marble and surrounding paragneiss is sharp.

The protolith was disrupted by various intrusive events. Felsic to mafic intrusions have been identified locally, as well as differentiated pegmatites. Intrusions, which range from <0.1 m to several metres in thickness, are emplaced along zones of weakness (shears, formational contacts) and often disrupt the contact between the graphitic mineralization within the marble with surrounding paragneiss.

The sedimentary protoliths, together with the intrusions, have undergone at least three phases of ductile tectonics. The first phase of east-west compression folded the sedimentary package to form an “S” fold. A second phase of compression distorted, flattened, and locally boudinaged the rocks with a general dip to the east. A final, third phase of north-south compression resulted in a north-south undulation of the sequence along this axis. This undulating folding influences the depth at which the graphic mineralization occurs across the deposit. Folding is seen on all scales, from less than one metre to hundreds of metres.

The sequence also underwent several phases of brittle deformation. There are north-south normal faults dipping to the west and a second set of sinistral east-west faults that has displaced some of the graphitic mineralization observed in the main mineralized zone.

The thickness of the marble units varies from an average of approximate five metres to 10 m and higher at the fold noses. Since marble is particularly ductile during the compression phase, the local thickness can vary greatly.

In the context of exploration on the deposit at the Quarry, the north-south axis of mineralization serves as a general guide, with east-west faulting shifting mineralization. This offset is observed within the open pit. The complex folding dictatesthe depth and thickness of the mineralization. The thickness of graphitic mineralization is greatest within the fold hinges and thins out and can be absent within the fold limbs. The mafic and felsic intrusions, together with pegmatites disrupt the stratabound mineralization and the boundary between ore and waste, which is typically quite sharp, is mixed and traditional.

Syngenetic graphite deposits, such as at the Quarry, are usually stratabound, with tabular, lenticular, or irregular mineralized bodies. Graphite mineralization results from the progressive transformations that the carbonaceous matter undergoes through prograde metamorphism, or graphitization (Kwiecinska and Petersen 2004). The changes induced by metamorphism on the carbonaceous matter include both structural and chemical modifications which begin during the earlier stages of diagenesis and greatly affect the impurities and final product grade, which can vary from 75% C to 97% C (Luque et al., 2014).

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

The LDI mine and plant were temporarily placed in care and maintenance for the second, third and part of the fourth quarters of 2023 while the Company sold excess inventory which it acquired with LDI. The plant restarted on October 30, 2023, and the mine restarted operations on April 25, 2024. In order to preserve cash, the Company temporarily again stopped mining operations on July 15, 2024 while continuing to operate the plant on a seven days a week basis, from its existing stockpile and then restarted mining operations on September 3, 2024. During the fourth quarter of 2024 the Company placed both the plant and mine under a temporary shutdown for maintenance and repairs and resumed mining and milling operations in mid-January 2025.
CommodityProductUnits2024202320222021202020192018
Graphite Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1413
Total Graphitic Carbon t  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Operational metrics

Metrics202420232022202020192018
Stripping ratio  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4.53 11.4
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe219,647 t178,294 t
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe994,871 t2,028,161 t
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,214,518 t2,206,455 t

Production Costs

CommodityUnits202420232022
Cash costs (sold) Graphite CAD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Mine Financials

Units202420232022
Revenue M CAD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Operating Income M CAD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
After-tax Income M CAD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Book Value M CAD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 11, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 11, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Dec 31, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 11, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 11, 2025

Workforce

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2022
...... Subscription required 2021

Aerial view:

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