Saguenay, Quebec – May 30, 2023 – First Phosphate Corp. (“First Phosphate” or the “Company”) (CSE PHOS) (FSE: KD0) is making significant strides towards becoming a North American leader in the lithium iron phosphate (“LFP”) battery sector and establishing the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec, Canada as the LFP Battery Valley of North America.
The Company will be hosting a live event on Tuesday, May 30th, 2023 at 12:00 noon EST to discuss this update in greater detail and to answer questions from shareholders. Please register at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ip2_w8KrTD6CmvAVchJcEg
The event will be carried out by our CEO, John Passalacqua. Our President, Peter Kent, has provided this brief pre-recorded summary address to shareholders who might not be able to attend the live event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DRAthsDEQQ
The Company Achieved the Following in 2023:
Started the year by listing its shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (“CSE”) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (“FSE”), providing its shareholders with global visibility and liquidity. Our President, Peter Kent, gave a keynote speech for the CSE opening session at the PDAC Convention in Toronto.
Signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Prayon SA (“Prayon”), the Belgian-based global leader in purified phosphoric acid (“PPA”) production and technology. This partnership promises to accelerate our operations by providing future offtake for our phosphate concentrate, access to PPA technology and LFP cathode active material (“LFP Cam”) production horizons: https://firstphosphate.com/PrayonSA
Initiated a Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) at our Lac-à-l’Orignal property following completion of a successful National Instrument 43-101 study: https://firstphosphate.com/LacOrignal43-101.pdf
Achieved a world-leading high-purity phosphate concentrate of 40.2% at a 91.4% recovery rate through metallurgical testwork at the laboratories of SGS Canada Inc., Quebec (“SGS Quebec”). Achieved strong LFP-related secondary recoveries of ilmenite (titanium) and magnetite (iron): https://firstphosphate.com/SGS_Mineralogy.pdf
Completed an in-depth mineralogical study with Queen’s University which concluded that the Lac-à-l’Orignal deposit is a likely ESG-compliant source of North American phosphate for the LFP battery industry. Phosphate mines are not known to be ESG driven. Lac-à-l’Orignal could potentially be one of the first: https://firstphosphate.com/Queens_Mineralogy.pdf
Yielded high-grade phosphate intersects along a 2,000 m magnetic trend with multiple phosphate-bearing layers during drilling operations at the Begin-Lamarche project. These are some of the highest phosphate grades ever found in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Region of Quebec, Canada. This property is only 75 km from the deep-sea Port of Saguenay and is located next to extensive existing infrastructure. Begin-Lamarche is now a second phosphate property of key development focus for the Company: https://firstphosphate.com/BeginLamarche
Secured a licensing agreement with Integrals Power Limited (“IPL”) of the United Kingdom which will allow for the manufacture of LFP Cam at any Company facilities in North America. IPL will also validate and homologate First Phosphate produced PPA and iron sulphate in its LFP Cam production process.: https://firstphosphate.com/IntegralsPower
Forged a strategic partnership with the Regional Conference of the Prefects of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (“CRP”) and the Regional Economic Impact Maximization Committee (“CMAX”). This agreement provides the Company with deemed major project status in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Region of Quebec and access to full local and regional private and government-related industrial competencies: https://firstphosphate.com/CRP-CMAX
Presented a keynote speech by our CEO, John Passalacqua, on the future of phosphate and the LFP battery opportunity to the global phosphate industry at the CRU Global Phosphates 2023 Conference in Istanbul, Turkey: https://firstphosphate.com/Cru-Group
Completed an oversubscribed private placement of $2,339,152 of which management and board participation totaled $456,380: https://firstphosphate.com/PrivatePlacement
Milestones for the Remainder of 2023:
Complete the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) at Lac-à-l’Orignal to have the ability to advance the property directly to feasibility study in 2024.
Release final results from our winter 2022 drill program at Bégin-Lamarche and then continue a summer drill program to reach a National Instrument 43-101 readiness in 2024.
Commence a prospection and geological reconnaissance program on our bluesky properties at Alex, Brochet, Larouche and Perron where strong phosphate indications have been found.
Work with SGS Quebec to demonstrate pilot scale separation of apatite from ilmenite and magnetite to create three distinct and marketable recoveries.
Work with Prayon to launch pilot scale production of battery grade PPA based on phosphate concentrate originating from First Phosphate mineral properties to meet client sample requests for locally produced North American PPA.
Investigate the creation of LFP raw material inputs such as iron sulphate and iron powder (from our secondary recoveries of ilmenite and magnetite) to meet client sample inquiries.
Enhance output of secondary recoveries of ilmenite (titanium) and magnetite (iron) to boost the economic potential of our Lac-à-l’Orignal mineral resource.
Continue advocacy for the development of the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Region of Québec into the LFP Battery Valley of North America, expanding on our CEO’s November 2023 address to the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean: https://firstphosphate.com/ChambresCommerce
Carry forward with advocacy for the inclusion of phosphate to the critical minerals lists of Quebec, of Canada and of the United States. Build upon the fact that phosphate already figures on the Ontario and European Union’s list of critical minerals.
Current Strategic Focus:
The Company remains focused on building shareholder value in the upstream through the development of our mineral assets into producing phosphate mines that extract and concentrate phosphate-bearing igneous rock apatite.
The anticipated primary recovery will be a >40% pure phosphate concentrate ideal for the creation of large quantities of ESG-compliant PPA for the LFP battery industry.
The Company’s secondary recoveries of ilmenite (?39% TiO2) and magnetite (?68% Fe) will greatly reduce costs of production of the phosphate concentrate. We are further investigating the potential to upgrade these secondary recoveries into iron sulphate and iron powder: these are equally valuable material inputs in the LFP Cam production process which have a scarcity factor in North America.
In the midstream, the Company intends to work with world-class partners to produce PPA and LFP Cam. Prayon and IPL are the first of such midstream partners. The Company is open to expanding into other complimentary and value-added relationships in the midstream.
The ultimate downstream clients for LFP Cam will be the LFP battery cell and battery pack producers as well as the OEM manufacturers of electric vehicles, small/large energy storage units and other electrical devices.
The Company intends to deploy a prudent partnership-based approach to transition from mine right to the production of LFP Cam, working with the best in class of partners worldwide.
Core Competitive Advantage:
The Company’s phosphate mining assets cover an entire district of 1,500 km2 in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Region of Quebec where 1% of the world’s rarest and purest igneous anorthosite phosphate rock can be found. The Company holds over 15 areas of very strong phosphate showings that range from exploration sites all the way to PEA development assets.
Deploying proven, world-class phosphate processing technology from our partner, Prayon, the Company estimates that approximately 90% of phosphate concentrate production will be capable of being processed into ESG-compliant PPA for the production of LFP Cam for LFP batteries. Other sedimentary phosphate mines in North America have depleting phosphate stock and can convert only a much lower percentage of their phosphate rock into PPA at economical scale.
The Company’s smaller, lower capex, ESG-driven igneous rock phosphate mines of the future should produce large volumes of high value-added PPA for the LFP battery industry. They should have a mine footprint of 8-10 times less than that of a traditional sedimentary rock phosphate mine. This will allow to locate closer to existing infrastructure and local workforce and to reduce carbon footprint, all of which will decrease variable production costs and provide for strong ESG gains.
Given the high purity, low sulphur and trace element contents found in our igneous phosphate rock, the Company is able to create a full circular-economy plan around its mines and processing facilities. Radioactive gypsum slag piles will not be produced at our mines as is the case with most other sedimentary phosphate mines currently in production around the world.
The Company is able to create new mines of the future fully dedicated to the LFP battery industry which will bring new, ESG-compliant phosphate production into the market without posing competitive threat to the food or fertilizer industry. Moreover, our phosphate mines will have limited or no relation to the food or fertilizer industries.
In conclusion, the Company is able to focus specifically on producing technological grade phosphate material for the LFP battery industry and to focus on the downstream technology client in the electric vehicle manufacturing and large-scale energy storage businesses.
Partnerships Update:
Port of Saguenay: Initial investigations have been conducted into possible site location of future Company operations at the port, including evaluation of an existing heated building area for an eventual LFP Cam pilot plant. The recent $105.5 million budgetary allocation by Quebec government to upgrading infrastructure at the port is encouraging. Further, we support the port’s new initiative to market itself as the next battery hub of Quebec after Bécancour. This will attract other potential battery industry partners to locate next to eventual First Phosphate facilities and to create a vital battery ecosystem at the port: https://firstphosphate.com/PortSaguenay
Prayon SA: The Company holds weekly meetings with Prayon executive. The parties are cautiously evaluating opportunities before them for the development of the major areas mentioned in our initial MOU: offtake of phosphate concentrate; PPA technology partnership; LFP Cam production partnership. The Company is in the process of preparing a 1,000 kg sample of phosphate concentrate which will be sent to Prayon for processing into PPA to meet client sample requests: https://firstphosphate.com/PrayonSA
Integrals Power Limited (IPL): IPL completed a financing in March 2023 and has since relocated to a new larger facility to begin the buildout of its pilot plant. Upon completion, First Phosphate will be supplying samples of its PPA and iron sulphate to be used in the IPL input materials homologation process. IPL is expected to produce LFP Cam and test LFP battery cells using the First Phosphate input materials during 2024: https://firstphosphate.com/IntegralsPower
Queen’s University: The first study initiated under the partnership with the Pufahl Research Group concluded that the “Low concentrations of deleterious trace elements and sulfide minerals make the Lac-à-l’Orignal deposit an attractive and highly probable ESG-compliant source of North American phosphate for the LFP battery industry.” The Company is considering whether to extend similar mineralogical studies to its developing “Bégin-Lamarche” property: https://firstphosphate.com/Queens_Mineraology.pdf
Saguenay Le Fjord Chamber of Commerce: As members of the chamber of commerce, we applaud the initiative of the Chamber, Promotion Saguenay and Port Saguenay to travel to Skellefteå, Sweden to explore how a similar legacy industrial Nordic region of the world has emerged as an important battery production valley. The Company was asked to provide input into the idea of developing the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Québec into the LFP Battery Valley of North America during its November 2023 address to the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean; https://firstphosphate.com/ChambresCommerce
Emerging Partnerships: Our partnership strategy is constantly evolving. We have numerous non-disclosure agreements (“NDA’s”) in place with entities in the following industries: mining, phosphates, LFP production technology, electric vehicle (“EV”) manufacturing and large-scale energy storage. The Company wishes to work with the best-of-class partners globally and proceeds cautiously with all evolving partnership discussions. The Company will update shareholders as relationships become fully mature.
Upcoming Conference Participation:
First Phosphate continues to be invited to be an active participant in industry events. Our CEO will address audiences at the following events:
Benchmark Battery Gigafactories USA 2023 (Washington DC, USA) (June 8-9, 2023)
https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/events
Critical Minerals Industry Summit II (Toronto, Canada) (June 14-15)
http://www.CriticalMineralsSummit.com
Mining Investment Event of the North (Quebec City, Canada) (June 19-21)
https://vidconferences.com/conferences-events/in-person/tier-1-mining-conference
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical disclosure for First Phosphate included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gilles Laverdière, P.Geo. Mr. Laverdière is Chief Geologist for the Company and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”).
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