Metals Australia Fast Tracks US$2 Billion Québec Graphite Refinery

Metals Australia (ASX:MLS) announced it is bypassing intermediate engineering studies to fast track a high-purity graphite refinery in Québec into the final feasibility study stage.

In a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released on Tuesday (April 28), the company details plans to process 75,000 tonnes of high-purity flake graphite concentrate annually.

According to the company and its Canadian subsidiary, Northern Resources, the raw material will be extracted from the upstream Lac Carheil project near Fermont, and transported to a planned refinery in Baie-Comeau.

The PEA outlines a pre-tax net present value of US$2.05 billion, assuming an 8 percent discount rate, alongside an internal rate of return of 25.6 percent. Driven by these initial metrics, the company said it will skip the traditional prefeasibility study phase entirely and advance directly to a final feasibility study.

The aggressive timeline highlights the geological strength of the Lac Carheil deposit.

The asset’s current mineral resource holds an average grade of 10.2 percent total graphitic carbon. Management notes that this concentration is approximately 2.4 times higher than the grade profile of regional competitor Nouveau Monde Graphite (TSX:NOU,NYSE:NMG), based on publicly available data.

The Perth-based miner also signalled substantial resource expansion potential, having identified nine additional, undrilled graphite zones spanning a 33 kilometre corridor across the property.

To support the downstream supply chain, Metals Australia selected Baie-Comeau for its refinery site, capitalising on existing heavy industrial zoning and critical export infrastructure, including a deep-water port and a rail ferry.

The processing plant is expected to require a workforce of 227 employees, contributing an estimated US$21.5 million in direct annual wages to the regional economy.

As the west scrambles to secure domestic supply chains for electric vehicle battery inputs, Canada has established a formal mandate to bring five graphite mines and five coated spherical, purified graphite refineries online by 2040.

Metals Australia CEO President Paul Ferguson linked the company's accelerated timeline to this sovereign strategy: "At a time when the world increasingly needs stable, secure, long terms supplies of critical minerals and the energy solutions that can be created from them, we have unveiled a world class project that is aligned with that strategic need."

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.