Northern Graphite and Rain Carbon win joint R&D grant for sustainable battery anodes
- Consortium awarded up to C$860,000 under the Canada–Germany Collaborative Industrial R&D Program toward a C$2.2 million, 24-month project.
- Project will convert low-value natural graphite fine fractions into battery-grade anode material to increase milling and shaping yield and reduce waste.
- Northern supplies feedstock from Canada and Namibia and NGCBM leads sizing, shaping and purification; Rain Carbon contributes conversion, LIONCOAT® coating and electrochemical testing.
- Work uses RAIN’s Hamilton demonstration plant (pilot-scale conversion/coating, analytical lab, application lab) and builds on Northern’s January 2024 Battery Materials Group acquisition of Heraeus assets.
Project scope
A 24-month, C$2.2 million initiative will develop processes to transform low-value natural graphite fine fractions by-product into high-performance, battery-grade anode material (BAM). Funding support up to C$860,000 comes through the Canada–Germany Collaborative Industrial Research and Development Program, with advisory and co-funding from NRC IRAP and Germany’s BMWE via the ZIM program.
Roles and feedstock
Northern provides natural graphite feedstock sourced from its Canadian and Namibian operations and applies advanced sizing, shaping and purification to produce uniform battery-grade feedstock. Rain Carbon Canada will deliver advanced conversion processes, proprietary LIONCOAT® carbon coating technology and lead electrochemical performance testing.
Facilities and testing
The work will be anchored at RAIN’s Technology Innovation Center for Energy Storage Materials in Hamilton, Ontario, which houses a pilot-scale demonstration plant for conversion and coating, an analytical lab for powder characterisation and an application lab for cell fabrication and performance assessment.
Objectives and strategic intent
The partners aim to increase conversion yield from flake graphite to BAM, minimise milling waste and lower carbon footprint per kilogram of material, positioning the consortium to offer a competitive Western mine-to-battery supply chain alternative for energy storage markets.
Source: Rain Carbon Inc.
