Great Lakes Graphite announced May 9 that Ontario Hydro has energized the transmission line that delivers power to its Matheson micronization processing facility in northeastern Ontario.
The Toronto-based industrial minerals company said it still needs approval from the Electrical Safety Authority.
The facility, east of Timmins, is capable of annually producing up to 20,000 tonnes of micronized graphite. The system will produce material in four different sizes, ranging from 10 microns to 45 microns.
D.E.N.M. Engineering has been contracted to complete the final construction and prepare the facility for operations. The firm specializes in the commissioning of small to medium scale mining projects and mineral processing facilities in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Australia.
“D.E.N.M.'s experience and qualifications are a perfect fit for what GLK requires to get operations underway at the Matheson plant,” said Great Lakes Graphite CEO Paul Gorman in a statement. “Access to electrical power within the facility now enables us to proceed with the commissioning process and preparing the facility for startup operations."
The company is broadening its focus to include the micronization of synthetic graphite, in addition to natural flake graphite. Including synthetic graphite products provides the company with access to a wider range of offerings and increases the number of target markets.
Adding a synthetic graphite product line will also enable them to address the demand for high purity products in the near term.
