Top Canadian Graphite Stocks (Updated December 2021)

1. South Star Battery Metals (TSXV:STS)

Year-to-date growth: 510 percent; current share price: C$0.31

South Star Battery Metals is focused on acquiring and developing battery metals projects in the Americas with near-term production potential. The company's main asset is its Santa Cruz graphite project in Brazil, where large-scale pilot plant testing has been successfully completed. South Star is aiming to reach Phase 1 production at the property in the fourth quarter of 2022, pending financing.

Shares of South peaked at C$0.35 on November 12, not long after the company agreed to key terms for a proposed earn-in agreement for the Ceylon graphite project in Alabama. The deal became binding in early December, and South Star now has the right to earn a 75 percent stake in Ceylon from current owners Hexagon Energy Materials (ASX:HXG) and US Critical Minerals. Further details were released in mid-December.

2. Gratomic (TSXV:GRAT)

Year-to-date growth: 323.53 percent; current share price: C$1.44

Exploration and mining company Gratomic has two graphite projects: its flagship Aukam property located in Namibia, and its Buckingham project in Quebec, Canada.

Gratomic has two offtake deals for Aukam, which covers a historical vein graphite mine, and the company is solidifying plans to micronize and spheronize graphite from the asset. It plans to start fulfilling its two contracts in 2022, which is also when it expects to achieve full operational capabilities at Aukam.

The company's share price reached its 2021 peak of C$1.76 on March 31. Gratomic released a slew of news around that time, but March 31 was the day it revealed plans to build a pilot processing facility and said it would be entering into a cooperative agreement with Forge Nano. Gratomic said Forge would help plan and develop the processing facility, and complete atomic layer deposition on graphitic material provided by Gratomic.

3. Graphite One (TSXV:GPH)

Year-to-date growth: 314.29 percent; current share price: C$2.03

Graphite One is focused on becoming a US producer of high-grade coated spherical graphite primarily for the lithium-ion EV battery market. The company plans to develop its Graphite Creek deposit, located in Alaska, into a vertically integrated operation, and is aiming to begin a prefeasbility study for the property in Q1 2022.

In a press release highlighting its 2021 activities, Graphite One states that among other achievements, it raised over C$30 million, completed a drill program and moved forward with research and development efforts related to multiple advanced graphite materials. Its highest 2021 share price came on November 18 at C$2.39.

4. NextSource Materials (TSX:NEXT)

Year-to-date growth: 253.33 percent; current share price: C$3.18

NextSource Materials is a strategic materials development company that is working on bringing its Madagascar-based Molo graphite project into production. Molo is the only project with SuperFlake graphite, and construction is currently underway at the asset, with commissioning set for mid-2022.

Shares of NextSource soared to their highest level in 2021 on February 16, reaching C$4.80. Six days prior, the company entered into a binding agreement for a US$29.5 million financing package with Vision Blue Resources, a private investment firm run by Sir Mick Davis, formerly of Xstrata. NextSource said at the time that the funds would be used to bring Molo into full production. The company was active through 2021, and most recently said in mid-December that fabrication and assembly of the processing plant for Phase 1 at Molo has been completed.

5. Northern Graphite (TSXV:NGC)

Year-to-date growth: 191.23 percent; current share price: C$0.83

Northern Graphite describes itself as a mineral development and technology company. Its main asset is the Bissett Creek graphite project in Ontario, which is an advanced-stage project with a full feasibility study and major mining permit. According to an independent study cited by Northern Graphite, Bissett Creek will have the highest margin of any existing or proposed graphite deposit.

Shares of Northern Graphite hit a 2021 high of C$0.88 on November 29, several days before the company signed binding purchase and sale agreements to acquire two graphite assets from Imerys Group: the producing Lac des Iles graphite mine in Quebec, and the Okanjande graphite deposit/Okorusu processing plant in Namibia. The transaction will make Northern Graphite the only North American and the world’s third largest non-Chinese graphite-producing company. Further information was provided in a December 30 update.