A Canadian graphite company is ready to take on China in the global market, and just got a step closer with a hefty federal funding boost as Canada ramps up its critical mineral strategy.

Earlier this week, Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG) secured a $459 million financing package from the Canada Infrastructure Bank and Export Development Canada to support the construction and commissioning of its Phase-2 Matawinie Mine in Quebec.

Matawinie Mine is projected to become the largest graphite mine in the G7 once it is operational. It will also be the first in Canada to mine and refine graphite into battery-grade material on a large scale.

“We are super competitive against China and against any other mining project in Africa or any other countries,” says Eric Desaulniers, founder and president of NMG.

Desaulniers says the project’s cost structure and long-term offtake agreements position it to compete with China, which dominates the world’s critical mineral processing.

He says about 75 per cent of the project’s future production from the Matawinie Mine has already been committed through offtake agreements. The company has major customers like Panasonic Energy committed to a quarter of the production for lithium-ion batteries, as well as Traxxas in Texas for refractory bricks

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The company is now working toward a final investment decision after securing debt financing, with equity still to be finalized, says Desaulniers.

He says the project is largely de-risked.

“We have 80 per cent of detail engineering done on the project. Over 50 per cent of the capex contracts are now signed,” says Desaulniers, adding that construction could begin as early as May if the remaining financing is secured.