Eight-tonne pilot produces approximately 850 kg of high-grade graphite concentrate for customer testing, advanced product development and potential strategic partnerships and offtake
Highlights- Premium Mechanical Concentrate: Eight tonnes of Lac Knife ore were processed into approximately 850 kg of concentrate grading up to 98.7% carbon using conventional mechanical concentration methods alone, without chemical or thermal purification.
- High-Grade Pilot Feed: The pilot feed had an average head grade of 18.9% total carbon, demonstrating the naturally high-grade character Lac Knife material.
- Flowsheet Confirmed: The pilot program confirmed the previously developed Lac Knife process flowsheet, with optimization focused on increasing concentrate grade within the finer fractions while preserving the integrity and value of the larger flake fractions.
- Qualification Platform Activated: Qualification-scale material has been produced and is now being allocated to purification, battery-material and specialty graphite programs intended to support customer evaluation, product validation and potential partnership and offtake pathways across unmanned systems, defence, energy storage and industrial markets.
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 28, 2026) -
Focus Graphite Inc. (TSXV: FMS) (OTCQB: FCSMF) (FSE: FKC0) ("
Focus" or the "
Company"
), a Canadian developer of high-grade flake graphite deposits and advanced graphite materials for battery, defence and industrial applications, is pleased to announce the completion of its eight-tonne Pilot Processing Program (the "
Program") using ore from its 100%-owned Lac Knife Graphite Project ("
Lac Knife" or the "
Project"), located near Fermont, Quebec. The Program was completed by SGS Canada Inc. ("
SGS") and was previously announced by the Company (see
March 3, 2026 Press Release). To further support downstream product development and customer evaluation demand, the Company expanded the Program from the originally planned six tonnes to approximately eight tonnes of Lac Knife ore. The pilot feed had an average head grade of 18.9% total carbon (C), as determined by LECO analysis. Preliminary results from the Program produced approximately 850 kilograms of premium graphite concentrate grading between 95.0% and 98.7% C by Loss on Ignition ("
LOI") across the concentrate size fractions. These results were achieved using mechanical concentration methods alone, without chemical or thermal purification. The preliminary results are consistent with, and further validate, the conventional process flowsheet developed through the Company's earlier SGS pilot program, which formed the basis of the
2023 Feasibility Study Update. That work demonstrated an average graphite concentrate grade of 97.8% carbon at 90.7% total graphite recovery, providing the technical foundation for the Lac Knife Project's planned commercial operation. The Program also produced a qualification-scale inventory of representative graphite concentrate for downstream product development and customer evaluation while confirming the previously developed Lac Knife process flowsheet. Mechanical optimization remains ongoing to further improve concentrate grades within the finer fractions while preserving the integrity and value of the larger flake fractions.
High Grade Changes the Processing Equation Producing concentrate grading up to 98.7% C through mechanical concentration alone provides Focus with a premium starting material before purification. The Company believes these results reflect the inherent grade, mineralogy and quality of Lac Knife ore. A higher-grade starting material has the potential to reduce downstream processing requirements while expanding the range of high-value graphite products that can be economically pursued. The results reinforce Lac Knife as the upstream foundation of Focus's broader mine-to-market graphite platform.
Material in Hand Unlocks Qualification The approximately 850 kilograms of concentrate produced through the Program is now being prepared and shipped for value-added testing, product development and customer evaluation. Representative material is the foundation of commercialization. Customers cannot qualify products, optimize processes or evaluate performance without sufficient material for testing. Completion of the Program removes that constraint by providing representative, qualification-scale material for customer evaluation across multiple downstream workstreams. Lac Knife concentrate is now being allocated to:
- High-Purity Graphite: Thermal purification targeting 99.99% C by LOI and chemical purification targeting greater than 99.95% C by LOI.
- Battery Anode Materials: Purified micronized graphite powders, spheroidized purified graphite ("SPG") and coated spheroidized purified graphite ("cSPG"), targeting greater than 99.95% C by LOI.
- Industrial & Specialty Graphite: Expandable and expanded graphite targeting greater than 97% C by LOI.
These programs are...
