Junior materials and mining group Leading Edge Materials Corp (CVE:LEM, NASDAQ:LEMSE) and its Woxna graphite mine in Sweden has been thrown into the limelight as the push for electric cars deepens.
Bloomberg has carried a feature on the Toronto listed company, which has a focus in Europe and European markets.
The Woxna mine and plant, 160 miles from Stockholm, was on care and maintenance when Leading Edge bought it way back in 2011.
Operations restarted in 2015 using freshly mined material but falling prices for flake graphite and a downturn in the sector meant it was mothballed but now, LEM plans to press go again.
Th company says it's the only western producer of natural flake graphite with a fully constructed, permitted and producing plant (100,000-tonne-per-annum feed producing 10,000 tons of over 90% graphite concentrate).
What's all this got to do with electric cars?
Ironically, electric car batteries contain more graphite than they do other components like lithium and cobalt, though it is the latter materials that have been grabbing the headlines, and the surge in prices.
Bloomberg writes that according to the Leading Edge's chief executive Blair Way, a US$20,000 battery pack for a Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) vehicle contains about US$1,200 worth of graphite, mainly of the synthetic variety.
A wider trend..
The article also says the firm's push in Sweden is part of a wider trend in recent years of mining companies snapping up European permits as carmakers rush to develop electric models.
Finland, Portugal and the UK have also been in focus, says the article.
"The company wants to be a “one-stop shop” for battery manufacturers, according to Way, says Bloomberg.
"It’s testing a purified form of graphite from Woxna with the goal of making enough by 2020 to sell to battery-makers such as NorthVolt AB, which was founded by a former Tesla Inc executive and plans to start large-scale output in Sweden.
"The miner has also held talks with car-makers including BMW AG," states the Bloomberg report.
Keeping costs down..
By replacing some of the man-made graphite with a purified natural form the cost could drop by up to 40%, according to chief executive Way,
And by using renewable energy to cut emissions during the purifying process, Leading Edge wants to bill its graphite as sustainable.
In October last year, the firm said it was to take part in a Swedish government-funded research project called: "Natural Swedish graphite for future lithium-ion batteries".
The aim is to assess the use of this high purity natural graphite as anode material for lithium ion batteries.
LEM shares added 1.43% in Toronto to C$0.71.