Although many of the mines in the area have been put on hold for various reasons, one is still going strong and plans to expand – perhaps by a factor of 10.
Eagle Graphite owns a quarry and production plant in the south Slocan Valley, one of only two natural flake graphite production facilities in North America. The Black Crystal quarry is on Hoder Creek Forest Service Road. The plant is at the junction of Little Slocan River and Koch Creek.
CEO Jamie Deith says five people are working at the moment.
“It’s the off season and the graphite markets have just recently recovered from a severe slump. A full complement when we are in operation is closer to 25 full-time people, plus numerous contractors providing services of various kinds.”
The graphite market has not only recovered, it is growing rapidly, thanks to the trend towards electric vehicles and the growth of battery production.
Deith says if Eagle Graphite is going to fill the contracts it already has, it will have to expand
production substantially.
“That’s before counting any additional graphite that might be required for batteries and electric vehicles, and if things go the way we anticipate over the coming years, then we might need to expand capacity more than 10-fold.
Deith is proud that Black Crystal quarry has an unusually light environmental footprint. Graphite is easily liberated from the sandy host material through a low-energy, water-based flotation process that generates only environmentally benign, marketable by-products. Water is recycled to minimize net consumption and eliminate discharge requirements. The primary sand and gravel by-products are sold to local buyers.
The finished graphite is non-toxic and non-reactive.
Deith invites anyone who is interested in following the company’s activities or seeing its announcements to go to the website, www.eaglegraphite.com and sign up for its email subscription list. He also welcomes emails sent directly to him at ir@eaglegraphite.com.
For the full story, see Valley Voice Jan. 25/18 article by Katrine Campbell.