Alabama Graphite Announces Positive, Independent Battery-Ready Graphite Electrochemical Test Results

Alabama Graphite (“AGC” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:CSPG)(OTCQB:CSPGF)(FRANKFURT:1AG) is pleased to announce Physical Sciences (“PSI”) of Andover, Massachusetts, USA has achieved positive, independent electrochemical test results from the Company’s 100% sourced-and-manufactured-in-USA ULTRACSPG™ natural Coated Spherical Purified Graphite (“CSPG”). Additionally, PSI witnessed stable cycling over more than 80 cycles, demonstrating the electrochemical stability of the Company’s CSPG.
AGC’s ULTRACSPG – the first trademarked sourced-in-America, battery-ready graphite for use in lithium-ion (“Li-ion”) batteries – is sourced and manufactured exclusively from the Company’s flagship Coosa Graphite Project property, located in Coosa County, Alabama, USA. All requisite downstream secondary processing to manufacture AGC’s CSPG was conducted in the contiguous USA.
Test Results

In Q4 2016, AGC conveyed a sample of its D50 15-micron (“μm”) CSPG to PSI for electrochemical testing. Led by Dr. Christopher M. Lang, Principal Research Scientist and Area Manager, Material and Energy Technologies for PSI, initial testing of AGC’s CSPG anode material was performed by preparing anode electrodes on traditional copper (“Cu”) foil at a loading of ~7mg/cm² and 92% active material. Graphite anodes were first cycled versus lithium (“Li”) metal in coin cells at a C-rate of C/10, between 5 millivolts (“mV”) to 1.0 volt (“V”). After conditioning cycles, the half-cells repeatedly delivered discharge capacities of 350 milliampere hours per gram (“mAh/g”).
Following the positive half-cell electrochemical results, PSI proceeded to larger-scale testing. CSPG anodes with the same formulation were cast on a novel proprietary current collector PSI is developing for these tests. The prepared CSPG anodes were integrated into pouch-sized (300 mAh) full cells to investigate long-term cycling efficiency. The capacity the cells manufactured with AGC’s CSPG anodes deliver is consistent with that measured for pouch cells built with a MCMB anode.
This indicates the anodes manufactured with CSPG are performing as expected, based on the half-cell data. On continuing cycling of the full cells made with CSPG PSI witnessed stable cycling over more than 80 cycles with cycling ongoing. PSI plans additional testing of pouch cells constructed with anodes prepared using AGC’s CSPG at the same scale in the coming months.

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