Ontario Graphite Receives Approval of Kearney Mine Closure Plan

2012-03-06

Mar. 5, 2012 - Ontario Graphite Limited today announced that the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) approved the Closure Plan submitted for the company's Kearney Mine project. This approval marks a significant milestone for the company and for the Kearney Mine - the largest confirmed graphite mineral resource prospect in North America - to begin production as planned in the third quarter of 2012.
"We have a unique operation. We are an industrial minerals facility and reactivation project with big local economic benefit. Kearney Mine will be an open pit mining operation using straightforward, environmentally sound processes," said Tom Myatt, President and CFO of Ontario Graphite. "This makes the Kearney Mine and its Close-Out distinctive; and to support it, we have developed an equally distinctive Closure Plan that reflects our commitment to the Kearney community, including local Aboriginal communities and the surrounding environment."
Ontario Graphite's Closure Plan is a comprehensive decommissioning strategy, required from all proposed projects before mining operations can begin. The Plan reflects current and expected Mine conditions, and defines a program safeguarding long-term stability at the Mine; ensuring environmental sustainability; and returning the site to a forest ecosystem.
The Kearney Mine was last operated in 1994 and will take advantage of approximately $60 million of existing infrastructure and mineral resources to support a mine life of more than 30 years. In addition, Ontario Graphite is fully funded through the re-start of production and ongoing operations at the Kearney Mine. When reactivated, it is estimated the Kearney Mine will process approximately one million tonnes of ore per year while producing 20,000 tonnes of natural, large flake, high carbon graphite concentrate.
Previously associated with lead pencils and golf clubs, graphite is now a key mineral in new, more sophisticated applications, including lithium-ion batteries used in electric and hybrid electric cars. A promising new mineral investment, the price of high-quality flake graphite has risen from a low of $600 per tonne in the 1990s to more than $2,500 per tonne in 2011, and has ongoing high growth rate potential.