Image via James St. Johnson/Flickr CC

Rapidly growing demand for lithium-ion batteries in automotive, consumer electronic and energy storage is boosting the global graphite market. Graphite projections are expected to reach $29 billion by 2022, equaling a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% over those years. Furthermore, one of the fastest-growing subgroups in the graphite trend is flake graphite. This form of graphite is ideal for lithium batteries because of its high-purity and large crystals. One company that has been successful at securing space in this important industry is Lomiko Metals Inc. (LMR:CA)(LMRMF).

Lomiko just recently announced they have completed all requirements necessary to own 80% interest in the La Loutre Flake Graphite Property, located in Southern Quebec about 70 miles northwest of Montreal. This is a promising project, and since the beginning of 2017, Lomiko has continually announced important discoveries from La Loutre.

In March, Lomiko released high-grade graphite results (with a reported best intercept of 110.80 metres of 14.56% flake graphite) and discovered an area of mineralization to be 200 meters wide, coupled with a strike length over 400 meters northwest to southeast. The strike is open in both directions. Similarly, in February, the company released high-grade results of 7.67% flake graphite (Cg) over 85 meters, including 13.09% graphite over 31.50 meters from hole LL-16-06.

Lomiko is now working on metallurgy and graphite characterization and will start drilling again in the Fall. Tests from the recent drill holes will indicate the minerals purity, if it contains large flakes and, lastly, if it the graphite is near the surface. These are all components leading up to the Pre-Economic Assessment (PEA) of the project. A high-grade PEA is vital to the project because it sends a message about the viability of the claims and attracts potential partners. The current battery of results from La Loutre have shown exciting potential.

“La Loutre is located close to the Imerys Carbon and Graphite Mine and benefits from similar infrastructure advantages and similar flake graphite grade, deposit size and near surface mineralization amenable to low cost, small footprint extraction,” CEO of Lomiko A. Paul Gill told Equities in May. “All of these elements make this an excellent candidate for a positive Pre-Economic Assessment.”

However, there is much more to Lomiko than a resource exploration company. Gill and his team, through their wholly-owned subsidiary Lomiko Technologies, have their hands not only in the production of the mineral at the ground-level, but all the way down the supply chain to the final product on the shelf.

As evidence of that, Lomiko announced in May that it had finalized a deal with its engineering partners MegaHertz Power Systems Ltd. and SHD Smart Home Devices Ltd. to accelerate the launch of its IoT device, the USB Spider Charger. The electronic device has multiple plugs and unique USB chargers on the side of the faceplate. It almost goes without saying that owing to the ubiquity of smart phones, there is a real need for USB chargers in households and hotels across the world.

The launch of the Spider Charger demonstrates Lomiko’s ability to develop a product from beginning to end, but it also proves the company’s ability to strike when an opportunity arises. Furthermore, Lomiko’s synergistic business model will allow them to take a profit off both ends of the technology boom.

“The ultimate goal is leaning towards vertical integration,” Gill told Equities. “We want to create opportunities in which we have a knowledge of where the minerals are extracted, and also an eye on where the minerals are going to be used in the end product. So, we want to be able to cover that entire value chain of the product.”

Ultimately, Lomiko has shown itself to be a company that sees market trends ahead of the curve and has the ability to strategically adjust to take advantage. Gill told Equities to watch for the company to increase its stake in La Loutre and he made good on that prediction. By all indications, we can only expect more exciting milestones from the company in the near future.


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