Dust clears on Matheson crushing plant: graphite is the "new black gold" of high-tech minerals.

AuthorRoss, Ian
PositionMining

A mothballed crushing mill in Matheson is being refurbished by a Toronto industrial minerals company with the aim of processing flake graphite imported from South America.

Great Lakes Graphite has struck a five-year agreement with DNI Metals to procure graphite from Brazil for shipment to the northeastern Ontario plant, where the company is refitting a micronization plant.

The company has a facilities use agreement for five years with the mill's owner, Northfill Resources, with the option for another five, to crush flake graphite into fine powder, according to customer specifications.

The graphite would arrive by ship in Montreal and then be railed the rest of the way to Matheson, the last leg on the Ontario Northland Railway.

The mill has been shuttered for about 15 years. Once owned by Hedman Resources, a Toronto exploration and mining firm, there were aspirations to process vermiculite and other agriculture-related minerals in the early 2000s. That company was never able to source any supply and the mill was closed soon after it was commissioned.

Great Lakes Graphite is spending $800,000 to refit the facility, located 70 kilometres east of Timmins, and begin commercial production by early 2016.

Company CEO Paul Gorman said the mill will be a "lean" operation with four people working one shift, five days a week, at the outset.

Three milling units were shipped down to the original manufacturers in Orangeville for refurbishment and modifications with additional grinding hammers to achieve very fine micron grades for customers.

"There's no wear-and-tear on the machines other than compressed bearings that have to be redone," said Gorman, who called the facility's condition "amazing."

"It's like the place was frozen in time for 15 years."

Though geographically off the beaten track, he said, the buildings are structurally sound with almost bomb-proof footings, structural steel and concrete pad.

Local companies like Norfab and LPL Contracting were hired to move equipment, brush out the grounds and make electrical upgrades.

The customer order book is beginning to fill up, but the company prefers to remain "stealthy" on who they're conversing with, said Gorman, noting that there's plenty of "long-hanging fruit" to supply graphite to industrial lubricant and refractory brick companies in the U.S. Midwest.

However, there's much bigger fish out there for the company.

Gorman calls graphite the "new black gold" as a natural carbon with many properties...

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