The Conversation (0)
Top 5 Canadian Graphite Stocks (Updated May 2023)
May. 29, 2023 01:55PM PST
Which graphite stocks have gained the most so far this year? These five companies on the TSX and TSXV are up the most year-to-date.
RHJPhtotos / Shutterstock
Although graphite demand in other sectors fell in 2022, the electric vehicle and energy storage revolution continues to pick up speed. This means market watchers are keeping an eye on graphite, a key metal used in lithium-ion batteries.
“We're now projecting that by the end of next year, batteries will be the number one leading market for graphite,” Andrew Miller, chief operating officer at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said in November 2022. “So this is a turning point for the industry.”
He also predicted that demand for natural graphite anodes will overtake synthetic by the end of the decade.
Against that backdrop, a number of Canadian graphite stocks have seen impressive year-to-date gains so far in 2023. Below is a look at the year’s top graphite stocks on the TSX and TSXV. Data was obtained on May 18, 2023, using TradingView’s stock screener, and all companies listed had market caps above C$5 million at that time.
1. Mason Graphite (TSXV:LLG)
Year-to-date gain: 63.33 percent; market cap: C$34.62 million; current share price: C$0.245
Mason Graphite is working to “develop vertical and horizontal integration in the mining industry,” according to the company, and its main focus is battery materials and their by-products. Mason owns the Lac Guéret deposit, which it says is “one of the richest graphite deposits in the world.”
Lac Guéret hosts the Uatnan project, which Mason is working to develop in collaboration with Nouveau Monde Graphite (TSXV:NOU,NYSE:NMG); the two companies are working toward a potential joint venture on the project. Under the agreement, production from Uatnan would use Nouveau Monde’s Phase 1 natural graphite flake concentrator plant.
Mason Graphite’s share price shot up at the beginning of the year after the company released a preliminary economic assessment for Uatnan, rising from C$0.22 overnight to a year-to-date high of C$0.42 by January 19. The document, which the company filed in March, shows annual graphite concentrate production of 500,000 metric tons over a 24 year mine life.
Most recently, Mason released news from its 41 percent owned graphene company Black Swan. Graphene (TSXV:SWAN,OTCQB:BSWGF), which it spun out last year.
2. Graphite One (TSXV:GPH)
Year-to-date gain: 46.53 percent; market cap: C$168.43 million; current share price: C$1.48
Graphite One aims to be a graphite anode producer at its Graphite One project, which would be fed using material from its Graphite Creek project in Alaska, US.
In February, drill results from 2022 exploration at Graphite Creek showed the expansion of mineralization with significant graphite grades. The company’s share price hit a year-to-date high of C$1.93 on March 7, days before it announced that the US Geological Survey’s report on the project reflects its own discoveries. According to the report, “(Graphite Creek) is the largest known flake graphite resource in the USA and is among the largest in the world.”
Ultimately, the company announced, its 2022 exploration increased its resource by 15.5 percent in the measured and indicated categories to 37.6 million metric tons at 5.41 percent contained graphite. Most recently, Graphite One received sample graphite anodes created from its graphite, and the resultant product is now being sent for evaluation.
3. Leading Edge Materials (TSXV:LEM)
Year-to-date gain: 25 percent; market cap: C$33.11 million; current share price: C$0.20
Leading Edge Materials is focused on developing projects in countries that are part of the European Union. Its assets, which focus on critical raw materials, are the Woxna graphite project and Norra Kärr heavy rare earth elements project in Sweden, along with the 51 percent owned Bihor Sud nickel-cobalt project in Romania. Woxna is currently on care and maintenance, although the company announced in 2022 that it was evaluating a restart at Woxna.
Leading Edge’s share price jumped to start the year alongside a corporate update on its three projects. With regards to Woxna, the company stated: “a change in the Company’s executive management during the second half of the year delayed a decision on this process.” The company is currently working on an environmental study for Norra Kärr and is planning a prefeasibility study for the rare earths project in the second half of 2023.
On January 23, Leading Edge identified extensive nickel and cobalt in galleries at its Bihor Sud project. Its share price rose to a year-to-date high of C$0.29 two days later. The company went on to discover further mineralization in March, and released quarterly results later that month.
4. Volt Carbon Technologies (TSXV:VCT)
Year-to-date gain: 15.38 percent; market cap: C$12.61 million; current share price: C$0.075
Volt Carbon is a carbon science company that is, according to its website, “involved in graphite purification, battery development, acquisition and exploration of property interests that are considered potential sites for future mining opportunities.”
Volt Carbon’s graphite properties are the Manitouwadge flake graphite project in Ontario and the Lochabar graphite property in Quebec. Outside of graphite, the company holds projects with molybdenum, rare earths, copper and lithium. The company’s subsidiary Solid UltraBattery is developing solid electrolyte batteries.
The battery metals company’s share price moved upward in mid-January, peaking at C$0.095 alongside its January 17 release of test results for Solid UltraBattery’s solid-state lithium batteries. Its metal coin cell batteries reached 400 cycles at 81.6 percent capacity in the testing, and its next goal is to reach 800 cycles at 80 percent. The subsidiary is currently working on building 5Ah batteries for Downsview Aerospace Innovation and Research.
In March, Volt Carbon announced a C$960,000 non-brokered private placement financing, some of which the company states will be used for acquiring further equipment to advance its technologies and for evaluating and possibly optioning further mineral claims. It closed the first tranche of C$244,000 at the end of the month.
Although the company’s share price settled back down after its January high, it moved back up in May in the days leading up to news from Green Battery Minerals (TSXV:GEM,OTCQB:GBMIF). Green Battery used Volt Carbon’s dry separation technology to process large- to jumbo-flake graphite from its Berkwood graphite property. The testing resulted in graphite grades of 93 percent. According to the release, “these results validate the effectiveness of VCT’s current process, which is currently being scaled up.”
5. Ceylon Graphite (TSXV:CYL)
Year-to-date gain: 7.14 percent; market cap: C$11.51 million; current share price: C$0.075
Ceylon Graphite is exploring and developing its graphite projects in Sri Lanka with the goal of soon moving to production. Ceylon also develops and commercializes graphene and graphite products.
After trading between C$0.06 and C$0.08 for the first two months of the year, Ceylon’s share price doubled on March 2 over the previous close, moving from C$0.06 to C$0.12 — still a year-to-date high.
The jump came as the company announced that testing of Ceylon’s vein graphite anode material showed outstanding performance results compared to the synthetic graphite that is the industry standard. According to the release, “This is the first time that spherodized vein graphite materials were tested in a lithium-ion battery full cell.”
On March 22, Ceylon hired Klaus Leiders, who has experience developing graphite projects in Sri Lanka, as its chief mining manager. He will help the company as it begins commercial production and works to rapidly expand its production capacity.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
https://twitter.com/INN_Resource
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-kelly-16a369b3
lkelly@investingnews.com
