Carney Announces Start of Construction at ‘Largest Graphite Mine’ in G7
Prime Minister Mark Carney said construction is beginning on what he says will be the largest graphite mine in the G7. The Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Matawinie Mine in Québec will supply up to 106,000 tonnes of graphite annually over 25 years, which Carney told reporters on May 19 is “eight times Canada’s total graphite production right now.” He said the mine would attract $2 billion of investment to Canada. The graphite will be used for advanced manufacturing, defence technologies, energy storage systems, and electric vehicle batteries, according to a government press release. The mine will also be integrated with a battery material plant located nearby in Bécancour, Que., becoming Canada’s first integrated graphite operation, the release said. Both the mine and processing facilities will be powered by hydroelectricity. The prime minister said the federal government has also signed a purchasing agreement for 30,000 tonnes of graphite over a seven-year period to give the mine “certainty in a world where there’s almost no certainty.”
