North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Graphite One Inc. Nov. 6 announced the appointment of Shane Beattie as its chief technology officer, a lithium-ion battery expert that has worked with several global automotive and battery manufacturers.

Beattie received his Ph.D. in Physics through the Jeff Dahn Research Group at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Jeff Dahn Research Group focuses on the physics and chemistry of materials for energy storage, primarily in the area of lithium-ion batteries and Tesla is its industrial sponsor.

Graphite serves as the primary cathode material in lithium-ion batteries and is the single largest ingredient in them. The increasing number of electric vehicles on global highways is driving major demand for graphite, as well as the other materials needed for the rechargeable cells that power them.

With the goal of helping to meet the rocketing demand of graphite needed as anode material for the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, Graphite One is focused on developing a mine at its Graphite Creek deposit in western Alaska and an advanced material processing facility to refine these concentrates into the coated spherical graphite used in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries.

In October, Graphite One announced that a major U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer has taken an interest in the Graphite Creek graphite.

Twelve thousand pounds of graphitic material from surface sampling at Graphite Creek was shipped to a U.S.-based industrial partner for processing into advanced graphite materials.

In turn, battery-grade spheronized graphite manufactured from this material was shipped to the yet-to-be-named electric vehicle manufacturer for testing.

Goran Horvat; Pixabay

A Nissan Leaf being recharged. Shane Beattie has worked with numerous car manufacturers that have added lithium-ion battery powered EVs to their line-up, including Nissan.

This facet of the Graphite One business will benefit from Beattie's 20 years of experience in the research, development and commercialization of lithium-ion and other energy storage systems in North America and Europe.

"Dr. Beattie is a widely-recognized leader in lithium-ion battery development," said Graphite One CEO Anthony Huston. "Adding him to our Graphite One team positions us to respond to rapidly rising market demand for advanced graphite material, particularly as our material is being tested by a major U.S. multinational electric vehicle manufacturer."

Prior to joining Graphite One, Beattie served as CTO of Elcora Advanced Materials and CEO of BTInnovations.

With interests ranging from research and development through commercialization, Beattie has also worked with automotive companies using lithium-ion battery technology including Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW and Nissan, as well as with rechargeable cell manufacturers including CATL, BYD, A123, Sony, Saft and Panasonic.

–SHANE LASLEY