Lomiko Metals Inc. has announced it has successfully completed Phase 2 of the single-layer pouch cell battery testing of its La Loutre graphite material with Polaris Battery Labs, LLC (“Polaris”). In Phase 1, Polaris completed half-cell coin battery testing, confirming good material electrochemical performance metrics compared to industry standards.
In Phase 2, cathode and prepared anode were combined into a single-layer pouch cell format to undergo electrochemical testing to demonstrate technical performance as a full rechargeable battery. Note that the single-layer pouch cells provide a format that is similar to those used in industry while not requiring large amounts of active material. The coated spherical graphite material (eSPG) provided for the originated from coated purified samples generated by the Corem Innovation Centre in Quebec, Canada. These samples were micronized and spheronized by ProGraphite in Germany. The samples are deemed representative of the La Loutre deposit.
The single-layer pouch cells constructed with our graphite anode and standard cathode material demonstrated that our graphite performs well under basic test conditions: cSPG16 and cSPG20 samples from La Loutre reveal strong performance of the La Loutre cSPG with better discharging capacity compared to commercial graphite in North America today. Both samples were put through a brief life cycle analysis for 25 cycles at C/2 and performed well. Please see highlights of the study below.
Concurrent with these studies, Lomiko is also working on the “NRC Study” announced on July 27, 2023, which aims to advance pre-feasibility level battery trials with its La Loutre natural flake graphite concentrate.
Belinda Labatte, CEO and Interim Chair of the Board, stated: “With the growing number of OEMs focused on lithium-ion batteries, graphite material testing needs to resemble real-life usage conditions. Lomiko has completed a number of metallurgical and electrochemical performance tests and will continue this process with National Research Council in 2024 and 2025. The Polaris studies, now concluded, confirm the electrochemical performance results are suitable for graphite anode materials and battery manufacturing. Lomiko has now successfully demonstrated the full value chain from ore to battery anode material on samples from the La Loutre project.”
“The importance of natural flake graphite supply was once again delineated with the Biden Administration announcement on March 20, 2024: by 2032, more than half the new cars sold in the United States would likely be zero-emissions vehicles in order for carmakers to meet the new standards for tailpipe pollution reduction. These zero-emission vehicles today require approximately 100 kg of graphite per vehicle.”
