The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - April 24, 2023
A mining equipment electrification partnership between Caterpillar and Nouveau Monde Graphite offers low-carbon benefits that will ripple out to the wider mining sector and onward to the far shores of the clean energy future.
Nouveau Monde CEO Eric Desaulniers and COO Bernard Perron, NMG COO, with a Cat battery-electric 793 mining truck at Caterpillar's Tucson Proving Ground in Arizona.
Building off a collaboration that was first forged in 2021, Caterpillar Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to supply Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. with electric mining equipment that will lower the carbon footprint of producing the graphite critical to lithium batteries. In turn, the junior mining company will supply the global heavy machinery manufacturer with the graphite that will serve as anode material in the batteries of electrified versions of its famed "yellow iron."
Like a stone cast into a still lake, the low-carbon benefits from this partnership will ripple out from Nouveau Monde's Matawinie graphite mine in Quebec to the wider mining sector and onward to the far shores of the clean energy future.
The splash at the center will come with the phasing in of zero-emissions Cat trucks, loaders, and other equipment that will push down the carbon intensity of mining Matawinie graphite, the largest single ingredient in the lithium batteries powering everything from microelectronics to the massive earthmoving machines produced by Caterpillar.
These low-carbon benefits will continue to ripple out across the global economy as zero-emissions Cat heavy equipment begins to dig up all the other minerals and metals needed for an envisioned net-zero-carbon world where the lithium batteries in electric vehicles are charged with renewable energy.
"This collaboration truly reflects our vision for leadership and unified efforts to advance responsible mining practices and global decarbonization," said Nouveau Monde Graphite President and CEO Eric Desaulniers.
From the onset, Nouveau Monde has had a vision of being a low-carbon supplier of graphite that would lower the carbon footprint of the batteries going into the EVs and renewable energy storage systems that are enabling the clean energy future.
"At every stage of development, management has worked to expand the field of possibilities for sustainability in our sector," said Nouveau Monde Graphite Chair Arne Frandsen.
This idyllic vision includes a mining operation at Matawinie where electric mining equipment charged with Quebec's abundant clean hydropower do the digging and hauling. The battery-powered haul trucks, loaders, and other mining equipment that would do the heavy lifting at this net-zero-emissions mine, however, had not yet been invented.
At the same time, however, Caterpillar was advancing its own vision of creating the battery electric mining equipment missing from Nouveau Monde's low-carbon graphite mine plan.
In 2021, the two companies signed a preliminary agreement to develop, test, and produce a fleet of all-electric Cat mining equipment for Matawinie.
Now, the heavy equipment giant and junior mining company have solidified this win-win partnership with a definitive agreement for Caterpillar to supply NMG's Matawinie Mine with an integrated solution that covers a zero-exhaust emission fleet, supporting infrastructure, and service.
Under the deal, Caterpillar will supply the excavators, mining trucks, loaders, dozers, and graders needed for a mine at Matawinie. Much of the initial fleet will be traditional diesel-powered equipment but will be replaced with electrified models as they become available.
"I'm proud of the collaboration and work the NMG and Caterpillar teams have accomplished together in support of the Matawinie site," said Caterpillar President Denise Johnson. "This project is an exciting one as it highlights what is possible when an effective energy transition roadmap is implemented that bridges the traditional product line to an integrated, electrified site of the future."
As a collaborator that will help pilot the earliest versions of Caterpillar's electrified equipment, Nouveau Monde will be at the vanguard of Cat's emerging zero-emissions technology, and it is expected that the mining fleet at Matawinie will be completely transitioned to electric versions within five years of reaching commercial operation.
For Caterpillar, the Matawinie Mine will serve as a sort of pilot facility that will test its newest zero-emissions innovations in a real-world setting.
As new Cat zero-emissions machines are developed, Nouveau Monde will benefit from technology enhancements by being high on the docket for receiving the latest equipment and support services over the duration of the contract.
To keep the cost down at Matawinie and to facilitate the technological upgrades, Nouveau Monde will pay an hourly fee based on usage, which includes asset management support to help improve uptime, predictability, and efficiency.
The agreement will also include the energy storage and charging equipment needed for the electrified Cat fleet at the Quebec graphite mine.
"Not only will we benefit from Caterpillar's stellar expertise, renowned products, and latest technological developments, but our team will also be at the forefront of the electric revolution in the sector, sharing insight, testing equipment for further optimization, and providing battery materials to support electrification beyond our mine," said Desaulniers.
Adding to the circular partnership between the heavy machinery giant and mining junior, some of the graphite mined at Matawinie is expected to wind up in the batteries powering future Cat equipment.
In parallel with the definitive agreement for an electrified Cat fleet at the mine, Caterpillar has entered into a preliminary offtake agreement for active lithium battery anode material made from graphite mined at Matawinie.
"A secure, resilient, and sustainable supply of battery materials is critical to actualizing the opportunities that electrification represents for our customers," said Rod Shurman, a Caterpillar senior vice president responsible for the Electrification and Advanced Power Solutions Division.
In addition to the mine, Nouveau Monde is developing a plant in Becancour – an area of Quebec that has been labeled "Battery Valley" due to the numerous automotive and battery materials companies setting up facilities there – that will produce the coated spherical graphite that is packed into the anode side of lithium batteries.
The advanced graphite materials processing plant Nouveau Monde is developing in Battery Valley will upgrade an estimated 103,328 metric tons of high-purity flake graphite concentrate to be produced at Matawinie each year into 42,616 metric tons of the coated spherical anode material for lithium-ion batteries and 3,007 metric tons large flake graphite for other industrial purposes.
The Becancour anode plant will also be plugged into Quebec hydropower, which will continue to hold down the carbon footprint of the anode material.
This will provide Caterpillar with a sustainable North American source of the anode material it increasingly needs for its batteries, along with bragging rights for its role in pushing down the carbon footprint of the mined graphite.
"This collaboration with NMG is an example of how Caterpillar is intentionally building out our value chain to support our customers' sustainability objectives and further establish our role in the global energy transition," Shurman said.
And because every facet of the global energy transition is built from the graphite, lithium, nickel, copper, iron, zinc, and other materials dug up by heavy machinery around the world, the electric Cat equipment being pioneered at Nouveau Monde's Matawinie mine will provide low-carbon benefits that will ripple to the far shores of the clean energy future.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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