General Motors Co. and Panasonic Holdings Corp. have signed agreements to buy electric-vehicle battery materials from Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. and will invest in the Canadian miner to help it produce high-quality graphite in North America.

GM and Panasonic have each committed to purchase 18,000 metric tonnes of active anode material annually over a period of six to seven years, Nouveau Monde Graphite said in a statement Thursday.

The mining company has a project in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Quebec, about 100 miles north of Montreal, and plans to build a graphite concentrator nearby. A refining facility for the production of active anode material, which accounts for about half of an electric vehicle battery, will also be built in Becancour, Quebec, where GM and Ford Motor Co. are already constructing EV battery-component plants.

The cost to build the entire operation is estimated at about US$1.2 billion, and Nouveau Monde Graphite plans to raise $725 million in debt and $475 million in equity. GM and Panasonic are each injecting $25 million into the company now.

The two companies and potential co-investors may participate in future funding worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the statement.

“We needed players ready to commit over a 10-year period, so three years of construction and seven years of supply in large quantities,” Nouveau Monde Chief Executive Officer Eric Desaulniers said in an interview. “We will now be able to set up a financial structure, which could not have happened otherwise. It is really the most important milestone for us to continue our progress.”

Shares of Nouveau Monde rose as much as 36 per cent in early trading and were up 18 per cent at C$3.28 at 10:45 a.m. in Toronto.

The firm is also backed by the financial arm of the Quebec government, London-based private equity shop Pallinghurst Resources LLP and Japan’s Mitsui & Co.

Graphite is a key material used to make the anode, the negative electrode of EV batteries, while the cathode is the positive electrode which includes lithium. Almost no battery-grade graphite is produced in North America, and the battery supply chain relies heavily on China, which has at least 90 per cent of the global natural graphite anode capacity, according to BloombergNEF.


Canadian graphite miner NMG scores deals

 with GM, Panasonic


Cecilia Jamasmie | February 15, 2024 | 

Computer rendition of the Matawinie graphite mine, NMG’s flagship operation. (Image courtesy of Nouveau Monde Graphite.)

Nouveau Monde Graphite (TSX-V: NOU) (NYSE: NMG) inked on Thursday multi-year offtake agreements with General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Panasonic Holdings, with both companies also vowing to invest in the Canadian miner to help it produce high-quality graphite in North America.


GM and Panasonic have each committed to purchase 18,000 tonnes of natural graphite active anode material annually over a period of six to seven years, the Montreal-based miner said. They are also making equity investments of $25 million each in the company.

The two firms and potential co-investors could join future rounds of financing worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Nouveau Monde Graphite (NGM) said in a statement.

NGM aims to raise $1.2 billion to build the whole project, with $725 million coming from debt and $475 million from equity. The miner aims to become North America’s first fully integrated source of natural graphite active anode material, which accounts for about half of an electric vehicle (EV) battery.

To achieve this goal, it is is developing the Matawinie project in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Quebec, about 100 miles north of Montreal, where it also plans to build a graphite concentrator.

NMG will also install a refining facility for the production of active anode material in Becancour, Quebec. This is the same area where GM and Ford Motor Co. are already constructing EV battery-component facilities.

The Matawinie open pit mine is expected to produce 103,000 tonnes of graphite a year over the course of 25 years and is part of a larger strategy to turn Canada into a production centre for lithium ion batteries.

The miner said the investments and agreements are seen as a testament to the company’s bankability and are expected to boost the commercialization of a local and traceable value chain for the EV market in North America.

Map of NMG’s integrated extraction and advanced manufacturing routes to supply Panasonic Energy and GM. (Courtesy of Nouveau Monde Graphite.)


“We had been looking for top-tier EV and battery manufacturers to bolster our commercial vision [of becoming a leader in the market],” NMG’s founder, president and chief executive, Eric Desaulniers, said in a statement. “Thanks to visionary customers and investors, we are now moving toward establishing a fully local and traceable value chain.”

NMG is also backed by the Quebec government’s financial arm, London-based private equity shop Pallinghurst Resources LLP and Japan’s Mitsui & Co.

The West is looking for sources of graphite outside China, the world’s top producer and exporter, which also refines more than 90% of the world’s graphite into the material that is used in virtually all EV battery anodes.

The quest to bring graphite projects to fruition has become more urgent in the past months, as China announced in October it will require export permits for some graphite products.

NMG said its recent acquisition of the Uatnan project for its Phase-3 expansion also provides a supply opportunity for Western EV and battery manufacturers looking to secure and grow active anode material volumes as their production increases.