First Phosphate is Taking the LFP Battery Market by Storm

First Phosphate (Canada: PHOS)(Frankfurt: KD0.F) continues to transcend the LFP Battery market.

After signing an MOU with Prayon, a global leader in purified phosphoric acid production, and demonstrating the high-quality phosphate deposits at both its Lac à l’Orignal and Bégin-Lamarche properties, the Company has turned it up a notch this April, taking important steps to becoming a leader in high-grade purified phosphoric acid (PPA) and LFP cathode active material development.

In this article, we will be highlighting everything that has happened to the Company in the past month, including the completion of its $2 million non-brokered private placement, a new collaboration with the Prefects of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, the signing of a new LFP production technology licensing agreement, and more.

With LFP batteries becoming a fundamental component of our electrified world, 40% of the global battery market by 2030 ($134.91 billion), there are few companies out there as well positioned at First Phosphate.

If you love electrifying markets and improving the quality of electric vehicles, then check out what has been happening with this captivating company.

What is First Phosphate (A Quick Recap)

Before we dive into what First Phosphate has been up to lately, let’s quickly revisit the Company so that we are all on the same page.

First Phosphate is a mineral development company fully dedicated to extracting and purifying phosphate for the production of cathode active material for the Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery industry.

The Company owns 1,500 square kilometers of royalty-free land claims in the Saguenay–Lac-St-Jean Region of Quebec, which is home to the rarest form of rock phosphate in the world (1% of the global supply).

Its two flagship phosphate properties are Bégin-Lamarche and Lac à l’Orignal.

During recent drill results, Bégin-Lamarche produced four high-grade phosphate layers with purity levels of 7.8% to 10.6%, while Lac à l’Orignal achieved beneficiated purity levels of 40.2%.

When beneficiated, these high-grade deposits can reach purity levels of 38% to 42% (ie. the Lac à l’Orignal results), making them perfectly suited for manufacturing large quantities of purified phosphoric acid for LFP batteries—over 85% of the feedstock is recovered during beneficiation.

Not to mention they are devoid of harmful trace elements, which are otherwise quite harmful to the environment.

In addition, both properties are strategically situated near advanced infrastructure, including heavy-haul road networks, the deep sea port and airport of Saguenay, and the low-to-no-carbon-emissions Quebec Hydro grid.

By tapping into these resources, First Phosphate will not only be cutting its operating expenses significantly, but it will also be opening its business up to international markets as well.

Overall, First Phosphate intends to create a vertically integrated production plan, that begins with extracting the phosphate from the Earth, then beneficiating and refining it, and eventually manufacturing LFP cathode active material to be used in LFP batteries.

From there, the Company will sell its product or partner with major LFP battery and EV manufacturers in North America and beyond.

First Phosphate is led by a world-class management team including CEO John Passalacqua and President, and former Canadian Environment Minister, Peter Kent.

You can learn more about First Phosphate and its management team in our previous article that covers the business extensively, here.

First Phosphate Closes $2 Million Private Placement

Continuing to execute its growth and development strategy, First Phosphate announced the closing of an oversubscribed private placement just last week.

Through the offering, the Company was able to raise an additional $2,339,151.90 in gross proceeds.

The funds will cover “Canadian exploration expenses” related to its mineral exploration projects, primarily for drilling at First Phosphate’s Bégin-Lamarche and Lac à l’Orignal properties.

Additionally, the Company plans to use a portion of the proceeds to pay for general corporate expenditures as well.

In return for their investments, investors received a total of 1,205,217 HD Units (hard dollar units) for gross proceeds of $843,651.90, and 1,869,375 FT Units (flow-through units) for gross proceeds of $1,495,500.00.

Each FT unit was made up of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant, while the HD units were made up of one common share and one half of one Warrant.

The private placement was led by First Phosphate’s management, board of directors, and chief geologist, thus demonstrating strong conviction in the business’s long-term objectives.

First Phosphate Collaborates With the Region of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean

In an effort to strengthen ties with the region that serves First Phosphate, the Company, signed a collaboration agreement with the Regional Economic Benefits Maximization Committee (CMAX).

The Committee is comprised of Développement économique 02 (DE02) and the Regional Conference of the Prefects of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (CRP), which is led by the President of DE02 and Prefect of the Domaine-du-Roy MRC, Yanick Baillargeon, as well as the President of the CRP and the Prefect of the Lac-Saint-Jean-Est MRC, Louis Ouellet.

Under the agreement, First Phosphate will connect directly with the region’s entrepreneurial workforce to help the Company operate its projects in a broader context and without supplier challenges.

In return, the CMAX will facilitate positive economic impacts for construction companies, equipment manufacturers, and their suppliers in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Region, thus creating a win-win opportunity for both parties.

When discussing the collaboration agreement, First Phosphate CEO John Passalacqua remarked, “First Phosphate strongly appreciates the warm welcome shown by the population of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Region towards the Company’s phosphate mine project and its value-added mineral processing plants. First Phosphate firmly believes that its projects must be well-integrated into the local host community fabric and that it must do its utmost to ensure that the community benefits from the economic spin-offs.”

First Phosphate Secures LFP Production Technology Licensing Agreement

Drawing closer to finalizing its vertically integrated production plan, First Phosphate recently announced joint licensing agreements with Integrals Power Limited (IPL), whereby the Company will leverage IPL’s LFP homologation and LFP production technology.

IPL’s LFP technology offers many benefits including increased capacity at high discharge rates; high capacity retention within ambient and extreme environmental temperatures; and lower costs/higher capacity.

As a result, LFP batteries manufactured by them should possess more simplified cooling systems, greater compactness, a lighter footprint, and lower pre-heating requirements in colder temperatures.

From the agreements, First Phosphate and IPL have arranged multiple mutually beneficial arrangements including:

• IPL will validate First Phosphate LFP-grade purified phosphoric acid and iron sulphate for use in LFP battery cells.
• IPLs LFP cathode active material homologation process will use First Phosphate LFP-grade purified phosphoric acid and iron sulphate—homologation is essentially a way to test and approve the quality of LFP cathode active material.
• IPL will provide an LFP production technology license to First Phosphate during the manufacturing of LFP cathode active material at any future First Phosphate LFP cathode active material production facilities in Quebec, Canada, or elsewhere in North America.
• First Phosphate and IPL plan to leverage First Phosphate’s access to green hydroelectric energy in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec for optionality in the build-out of IPL’s future production facilities.

Additionally, First Phosphate acquired 7,386 common shares of IPL, demonstrating a strong alignment between the two partners.

After finalizing the agreement, IPL’s CEO Behnam Hormozi said, “We require a development partner like First Phosphate which is fully committed to the LFP battery industry, to a low carbon footprint, to ESG compliance, to non-conflict ethical sourcing, to traceable and secure supply, and just-in-time provisioning. All of these are strategic production advantages for IPL and our clients.”

First Phosphate Extends High-Grade Phosphate Layers at Bégin-Lamarche

Turning our attention towards one of First Phosphate’s immensely valuable flagship properties, Bégin-Lamarche continues to show promise after the Company received additional drill results.

From the drilling program, First Phosphate discovered:

• Drill hole BL-23-03 intersected 8.4% P2O5 over 64.2 meters starting in mineralization at bedrock ground level.
• Layer 3, discovered originally with drill hole BL-23-02 (8.4% P2O5 over 57.3 meters), was found to extend to drill hole BL-23-03 (8.4% P2O5 over 64.2 meters), thus establishing the continuity of Layer 3.
• A newly discovered layer 4 across drill hole BL-23-03 (between 143.0 m and 201.0 m) and across drill hole BL-23-04 (between 4.8 m to 45.0 m), offering additional opportunities to recover high-grade phosphate.

Here are the overall assay results thus far:

Following the additional drill results, First Phosphate President Peter Kent said, “These drill results confirm the extension of the high-grade phosphate layer discovered originally with hole BL-23-02 along with a new fourth layer. What is more, the company has now drilled 17 drill holes within the main 2,000 m magnetic trend and all of them carry phosphate layers ranging from a few meters to an excess of 100 meters.”

Final Thoughts

Over the past month, First Phosphate (Canada: PHOS)(Frankfurt: KD0.F) has made significant strides in becoming a leader in high-grade purified phosphoric acid and LFP cathode active material development.

With the completion of its $2 million non-brokered private placement and the signing of various collaboration agreements, the Company is poised to become a major player in the North American LFP battery market.

What’s more, First Phosphate’s rare, high-grade phosphate deposits and strategic location near advanced infrastructure give it a significant advantage in the industry.

For those interested in learning more about First Phosphate and its mission to be an all-encompassing producer of cathode active material for the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery industry, check out its investor presentation below.

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