Graphite
Graphite is one of the most versatile of non-metallic minerals. Used in batteries, lubricants, brake linings, refractories and foundries, graphite can be either synthetic or natural. Natural and synthetic graphite industries operate independently and have little crossover in market share and end uses. The rise of the Lithium-ion battery has caused great excitement in the graphite industry in recent times. Demand for batteries (primarily nickel-metal-hydride and to a lesser extent Li-ion) caused a surged in graphite demand in the late 1980s and early 1990s – driven by portable electronics such as the walkman and power tools. Lithium Batteries are the fastest growing end and use 10X the graphite to lithium in the expanding electric auto market. Batteries are the fastest growing end use for graphite. Electric vehicles hold the potential to see graphite demand boom. For example, the Li-ion battery in the fully electric Nissan Leaf contains nearly 40 kg of graphite.
World Production
China dominates world graphite production and represents 75% of total output. India is the second largest producer followed by Brazil, north Korea, Austria and Canada. The U.S. has no current natural graphite production but with National Graphite Corp’s exploration commitment plans, this will soon change.
National Graphite Corp is one of a handful of companies owning graphite exploration properties in the Quebec and Ontario, and with this acquisition one of the only potential US Producers.
National Graphite (Formerly Lucky Boy Silver Corp) will continue development of its Nevada silver and gold claims
The Company’s Candelaria silver properties are located in the Walker Lane Mineral Belt in western Nevada. The Walker Lane is a major northwest-southeast-trending zone which displays right lateral fault movement that ranges from 30 to 40 miles in its central portion, and hosts a variety of precious metal and base metal mineral deposits (as well as geothermal activity) along its length. The mineralization on the Candelaria prospect is primarily silver mineralization with some gold, lead and zinc exposed at the surface and trending east-west across the northern edge of the claims.
