Canadian explorer E-Power Resources (CSE:EPR) has banked the final cash from its private placement, which was oversubscribed and has now closed.
The company, which has a market capitalisation of C$2.4 million ($2.7 million), issued around 5.6 million shares at C$0.05 in the third and final tranche of the placement.
The final tranche raised a further C$279,912 to go towards advancing its Tetepisca flake graphite property in Québec.
The Tetepisca property comprises 230 claims covering about 12,620 hectares within the Tetepisca Graphite District – an active graphite exploration and development district with defined measured and indicated resources in excess of 120 million tonnes at an average grade of about 14% graphitic carbon.
CEO James Cross told Mining.com.au in April that the Tetepisca Graphite District is the richest known graphite district in North America.
Uatnan, which is considered one of the world’s largest graphite projects in development, sits immediately adjacent to E-Power’s Tetepisca Project.
Demand for graphite is rapidly on the rise given just how important the commodity is to a lithium-ion battery.
A 50 kilowatt-hour electric vehicle battery requires 100kg of graphite, substantially more than the lithium, manganese, cobalt and nickel combined that is needed to make the battery.
Graphite serves to make the anode – the negative terminal – in a lithium-ion battery. This is due to its increased electrical conductivity and stability.
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence forecasts a 140% increase in natural graphite demand by 2030 which will require an extra 1.7 million tonnes of material.
This equates to around 31 new natural graphite mines and 12 new synthetic graphite plants globally to provide that supply.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: E-Power Resources
