May 6, 2024
Lomiko Announces Excellent Results from La Loutre Graphite Testing with CRITM Grant and Corporate Update. Lomiko Metals Inc. (TSX.V: LMR) (“Lomiko Metals” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has completed more research and development within the mandate of the CRITM grant and Phase 1 of the material characterization, micronization, spheriodization, coating, thermal purification and half-coin cell battery testing of its La Loutre graphite material, conducted by the National Research Council of Canada (“NRC”). The Phase 1 NRC testing was conducted on 0.6kg of flake graphite over 8 months, using a larger sample than the Polaris Study to confirm once again that the La Loutre material can meet battery requirements. This study was first announced on July 27th, 2023, with the work being carried out at the NRC’s facilities in Boucherville, Quebec. In Phase 1 of the study, the NRC completed half-cell coin battery testing, confirming good material electrochemical performance metrics compared to industry standards and surpassing the results previously announced in the Polaris Study (see press release January 10th, 2024), which had a similar mandate. The objective of this NRC study is more comprehensive and involves research for a longer duration on the entire flotation sample; phase 2 of the study will build 5-layer batteries and test them for 500 cycles over 9 months. Belinda Labatte, CEO and Interim Chair of the Board stated: Lomiko has now re-confirmed the suitability for the La Loutre graphite for battery anode material at the NRC lab with a comprehensive mandate that will now continue into Phase 2. “In this phase, using thermal purification methods and a larger sample size, the electrochemical performance results surpassed the study results from the Polaris tests announced on April 1, 2024. Lomiko has now demonstrated that the La Loutre natural flake graphite performs well using all three standard purification methods: thermal, prepared and tested by the NRC, and alkaline and acid-based (prepared by ProGraphite and Corem), as tested by Polaris LLC.” The spheronized sample was tested at the NRC with thermal purification processes: High Temperature (HT) purification in a small scall HT furnace. The sample was heated up to 2700 °C in argon gas for 5-10 minutes, followed by a natural cooling of the furnace for several hours, kept under Argon gas. The HT purification by the NRC was able to bring almost all elements below the 10 ppm target. Titanium stayed above the 10 ppm mark and could be ascribed partly to its high boiling point (3287 °C), which hasn’t been known to be the element of concern. The main positive points are that both Fe (iron) and Si (silicon) levels decreased 10,000 fold from % (percentages) to ppm (percent per million) level and are generally the main contaminants to address. Table 1: La Loutre SPG contaminants composition before and after thermal purification ElementBefore ppmAfter ppmElementBefore ppmAfter ppmElementBefore ppmAfter ppmAg