Graphite comes to Matheson: new processing operation rejuvenating stalled mill.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: Timmins

Early this year, Great Lakes Graphite expects to have its new graphite micronization mill up and running in Matheson.

Over the last year, the company has been working to transform a former vermiculite-processing mill owned by Northfil Resources into a graphite-processing facility, which will grind the graphite into a fine powder.

Paul Ferguson, the company's chief marketing officer, called the Matheson mill an "incredible windfall," because it had just about everything the company needed to get its operation up and running.

"To find a facility that was equipped with the exact equipment that we would have needed to order, in order to do this from scratch, was amazing," Ferguson said.

"It needed refurbishment, because it's been sitting there for 14 years, but it would have cost us $25 million or maybe $30 million to replicate that from scratch, and probably two to three years of permitting."

Instead, Ferguson said the company is coming very close to staying within its $800,000 retrofit budget and only slightly behind its original schedule, which would have had the operation up and running by October or November.

After securing a use agreement with the facility owners, the company sent away the equipment for refurbishing; it arrived back on site in late December. With just a few days to go before Christmas, one of three circuits had been installed and hooked up, ready to turn on.

Great Lakes Graphite's business plan calls for a slow startup, since all three circuits won't be used immediately anyway, Ferguson said.

"We just didn't think it was realistic to have a plan that was starting at capacity," he said. "We'll work our way up to that probably over the course of the next 12 to 18 months."

The company was awaiting inspections from Hydro One and the Electrical Safety Authority by year's end, as well as approval of | its noise and air permit by the Ministry of the Environment. Ferguson anticipated that to be complete by early January.

"The facility has the existing noise-air permit, but in order to process graphite, we had to apply for an amendment, because the facility didn't anticipate that when it was designed and built," Ferguson said.

"That's been about an eight month process, but now we're basically at the end of it."

One of the company's final obligations is the completion of consultations with First Nation and Metis interest groups.

So far, Ferguson said, the company hasn't had any objections, but it's been difficult getting in touch...