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Graphite One announces MOU with Lab 4 Inc. to design recycling plant in Washington State

G1 Proposed Manufacturing Plant/Recycling Plant (CNW Group/Graphite One Inc.)

VANCOUVER — Graphite One Inc. announces that it has entered into a non-binding initial Memorandum of Understanding with battery materials recycler Lab 4 Inc. of Nova Scotia, Canada, whereby Graphite One and Lab 4 propose to collaboratively work together to design, develop and build a recycling facility for end-of-life EV and lithium ion batteries.

Lab 4 Inc. provides laboratory and engineering support to mining companies with a focus to recycle graphite, manganese and other minerals.

The recycling facility would be located adjacent to Graphite One’s planned advanced materials manufacturing plant in Washington State1.

“With this new proposed recycling division joining our Graphite Creek mine and Advanced Graphite Materials Manufacturing Plant as the third link, Graphite One plans to bring the full circular economy to the U.S. graphite supply chain,” said Anthony Huston, President and CEO of Graphite One. “When you’re in the renewable energy space, you’ve got to think through the whole lifecycle – where will EV and lithium-ion batteries go when they are no longer useful? It can’t be to the landfill. That’s not responsible. Battery materials are simply too critical and too scarce to let them go to waste. That all points to recycling battery materials – and for Graphite One, this pointed us to Lab 4 and their ground-breaking work to recycle these materials right back into our planned manufacturing plant. With this new partnership, Graphite One would be the only fully integrated domestic supply chain for graphite to accommodate the different requirements of battery companies.”

“Lab 4 Inc. is excited to have this opportunity to work with Graphite One to develop state-of-the-art battery recycling capability. The return of battery materials within the industry, or to new uses and applications, is critical to the materials supply chain as the electrification of everything accelerates,” said Dr. Ian Flint, CEO of Lab 4 Inc. “Adding recycling to renewable materials development is the missing piece in a true circular economy. We look forward to a partnership that sets a new standard for the renewable energy sector.”

As announced on March 7th, Graphite One Inc.’s Graphite Creek resource in Alaska has been cited as the largest known graphite deposit in the United States by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in its updated U.S. Mineral Deposit Database (USMIN).

The USGS report confirms Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy’s statement in support of Graphite One’s designation as a U.S. government high-priority infrastructure project, stating, “Graphite Creek is the largest deposit of graphite in the nation and would be a superior domestic supply of this critical mineral.”

With the United States currently 100 per cent import dependent for natural graphite, Graphite One is developing a complete U.S.-based, advanced graphite supply chain solution anchored by the Graphite Creek resource near Nome, Alaska. The Graphite One Project plan includes an advanced graphite material and battery anode manufacturing plant expected to be located in Washington State along with the development of the Graphite Creek resource.