VANCOUVER, July 5, 2018 /CNW/ - Leading Edge
Materials Corp. ("Leading Edge Materials") or ("the
"Company") (TSXV:LEM) (OTCQB: LEMIF) (Nasdaq
First North: LEMSE) is pleased to provide an update regarding
the Company's current activities and future plans for the 100%
owned Woxna graphite mine in Sweden.
Woxna is a unique European graphite project, positioned to
become a leading supplier of sustainable graphite for the high
growth lithium ion battery market. As lithium ion batteries
contain up to 20% high purity graphite as the anode, it is an
increasingly critical raw material as battery manufacturing expands
in Europe.
Blair Way, President and CEO,
stated "The Company has received a number of queries about the
recent price volatility. The Company is not aware of any
fundamental changes to the Company or the outlook for its assets
over the past week."
Woxna is a fully constructed mine, with all processing, waste
management and infrastructure in place. During 2017, Woxna
was granted a 25-year extension to its operating licence. The
site is presently held on a production ready basis as the research
necessary to maximise the value of products for sale is completed.
Leading Edge Materials is focused on product development to meet
the needs of potential European lithium ion battery
customers. Due to safety and performance considerations,
supplying new materials to the battery market is a long and
challenging path, and it is only through large sample volumes and
commercial scale processes that materials can gain industrial
qualification. Due to the fully built status of the Woxna
mine, Leading Edge Materials is much further advanced than most
industry peers on this path to supply anode materials to a growing
European lithium ion battery market.
The business objective of Leading Edge Materials is to own and
control a sustainable production chain for graphite anode material
from mining through to blending of customer ready
product. The Company shall also produce saleable
by-products to fully utilize all graphite material mined at
Woxna.
In order to achieve these objectives, various strategic research
is underway or scheduled, building upon the extensive operating and
research knowledge of the Company. Activities include:
- Complete an internal trade off study for installation of a
Battery Graphite Demonstration Plant at the Woxna site designed to
produce substantial volumes of commercial anode materials.
Study recommendations are expected mid Q3 2018;
- Undertake additional graphite shaping/spheronising trials for
final selection of appropriate equipment to achieve consistent
product specifications at Demonstration Plant scale. Results
are expected during Q3 2018;
- Conduct further thermal purification test work to allow
equipment selection and ensure consistent results in line with
customer specifications. Results are anticipated Q3
2018;
- Complete detailed design for the Battery Graphite Demonstration
Plant to enable commercial scale production of samples for customer
qualification. Results expected Q4 2018;
- Subject to finance and satisfactory technical results, install
purification and shaping Demonstration Plant on Woxna mine site and
produce substantial quantities of graphite materials for potential
customers. Initial results expected Q2 2019 as part of an
on-going qualification and product optimization campaign;
- Use Demonstration Plant by-product material to investigate
alternate markets benefiting from the thermal and conductive
characteristics of natural graphite;
Blair Way, President and CEO,
stated "Within a European context, the value of a fully built and
permitted mine site cannot be under estimated. The fortunate
legacy created by previous investment places Woxna as a graphite
industry leader, able to now invest specifically in gaining the
maximum value from our materials. Our focus on larger
"Demonstration Plant" scale testing is motivated by extensive
customer discussion, and will allow us to engage with potential
customers with the volume of material that is required to achieve
battery industry qualification."
The EU Battery Market
The electrification of Europe
is well underway, with batteries playing an increasingly important
role both in the electrification of transport systems and the grid
integration of expanding renewable energy sources. As Europe
currently imports a majority of battery cells for transportation
and storage purposes, Leading Edge Materials is working with the
companies aiming to manufacture cells in Europe.
Late 2017 the EU Battery Alliance was formed by more than 50 of
Europe's strongest corporate
voices within the emerging lithium ion battery sector, plus
numerous support and government agencies. The EU Battery Alliance
was in response to the recognition that despite world-leading
fundamental research and a broad customer base, particularly in the
automotive industry, Europe is not
playing a significant role in the industrial production of lithium
ion batteries. European Commission research estimates that by
2025, the European battery market will have an annual value in the
order of €250 billion, reflecting approximately 200 GWh of energy
storage capacity per year, an industry too large to be left to
global competitors.
Leading Edge Materials is the only potential supplier of natural
graphite anode material within the EU Battery Alliance, which
allows the Company's voice to be clearly heard with regard to the
sustainable supply of European raw materials.
On behalf of the Board,
"Blair
Way"
Blair Way, President & CEO
Qualified Person
The qualified person for the Company's project, Mr. Blair Way B.S. (Geology) M.B.A., a Fellow of the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Company's
President and CEO, has reviewed and verified the contents of this
document.
About Leading Edge Materials
Leading Edge Materials is a Canadian public company focused on
production of high value critical raw materials for the European
market, with an operating base in the Nordic region, a region well
recognised for its promotion and investment in innovation. LEM's
flagship asset is the Woxna Graphite production facility located in
central Sweden targeting the
supply of specialty materials for lithium ion battery production.
LEM's assets and research focus are towards the raw materials for
Li-ion batteries (graphite, lithium, cobalt); materials for high
thermal efficiency building products (graphite, silica, nepheline);
and materials that improve the efficiency of energy generation
(dysprosium, neodymium, hafnium). Investments are linked to the
global shift to low-carbon energy generation and energy storage.
Leading Edge Materials currently operate in four divisions,
Graphite, Lithium, Rare Earth and Cobalt. Mangold
Fondkommission AB is the company's Certified Adviser ("CA") as part
of the listing requirements for Nasdaq First North.
Additional Information
Leading Edge Materials is listed on the TSXV under the symbol
"LEM" and Nasdaq First North Stockholm under the symbol "
LEMSE". Mangold Fondkommission AB is the Company's Certified
Adviser on Nasdaq First North.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this news release.
Forward-Looking Information. This news release may contain
forward-looking statements and information based on current
expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of
future performance or results. Such statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from those implied by such statements. Such statements
include but are not limited to, unexpected geological conditions;
the Company's expectations regarding exploration activities to
advance critical material projects for energy storage markets,
delays in obtaining or failure to obtain necessary permits and
approvals from government authorities. Although such
statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there
are risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results,
performance or achievements to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
the forward-looking information contained herein. All
forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by
this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation
to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to
publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the
forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future
results, events or developments, except as required by law.
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SOURCE Leading Edge Materials