Vertically integrated critical minerals company Global Battery Materials has announced a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the Kearney graphite project, in Ontario, finding an after-tax net present value of $183-million.

The PEA evaluates the restart of the past-producing Kearney mine, leveraging existing infrastructure to provide a secure source of graphite for the North American battery supply chain.

The assessment confirms the project has an internal rate of return of 67% and payback period of 1.3 years.

Through modest initial capital expenditures of C$65-million and sustaining capital of C$30-million, Kearney can be refurbished to generate after-tax cashflows of about $421-million over a 20-year mine life.

The PEA contemplates a phased operational strategy designed to leverage existing site infrastructure while supporting future optimisation opportunities, including a phased transition from diesel generator power to a regional 44 kV overhead grid connection.

The proposed operation envisions the redevelopment of Kearney as a conventional openpit mining operation using contractor truck-and-shovel methods. Mineralised material will be processed through a flotation concentrator designed to produce a premium graphite concentrate at about 95% graphitic carbon.

Kearney currently has total inferred resources of 33.7-million tonnes grading 1.90% graphitic carbon.

Global Battery Materials CEO Eric Miller says the Kearney graphite project represents a rare opportunity to establish domestic graphite production quickly and with capital efficiency. "The mine has a proven history of supplying North American markets and this study confirms the advantages of our brownfield approach. Combined with our advanced-stage anode material pilot plant in South Korea, we are ready to act with urgency to strengthen critical mineral supply chains [in the region]," Miller adds.

Opportunities identified by the study include additional mineral resource conversion drilling, and mineral resource expansion, process optimisation, and infrastructure enhancements.

The company also intends to evaluate downstream graphite valorisation opportunities, including advanced graphite products and battery anode materials.

Global Battery Materials intends to advance a definitive feasibility study as the next step in the project's development.