NMG Achieves Major Milestone with Matawinie Mining Lease Approval
Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NYSE : NMG, TSX : NOU) announced that it has been granted mining lease no. 1057 for its Matawinie Mine by Québec’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests. This lease grants the Company the right to mine the graphite deposit and marks a major regulatory milestone for the project, which is currently under construction and progressing according to the established schedule.
“Obtaining the mining lease for the Matawinie Mine is a source of great pride for our team,” said Eric Desaulniers, NMG Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer. “This milestone is the result of several years of dialogue and close collaboration with the Atikamekw community of Manawan, the municipality of Saint-Michel-des-Saints, and Québec’s regulatory authorities. I would like to sincerely thank them for their participation and contribution to the evolution of this project, which we have shaped together over the years by taking into account the perspectives of our various stakeholders. With the mining lease now obtained and construction underway, we continue to advance with rigour and discipline the construction of the Matawinie Mine, which is a cornerstone of an integrated, domestic, and secure graphite supply chain.”
The granting of the mining lease follows several years of environmental, social, and regulatory work and demonstrates NMG’s commitment to developing the Matawinie Mine according to high standards of environmental performance and sustainable development.
Indeed, the project was designed to incorporate practices aimed at reducing its environmental footprint, including through water reuse, progressive restoration integrated into mining operations, biodiversity protection, and the co-disposal of tailings and waste rock, a distinctive approach in North America.
Furthermore, the Company submitted the project’s environmental and social impact assessment in 2019, and Québec’s Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) conducted a full public review process in 2020. In 2021, the Government of Québec adopted the ministerial decree authorizing the project and establishing the conditions and monitoring measures governing its development. In parallel, following a framework agreement signed in 2018 and a pre-development agreement signed in 2019, NMG and the Atikamekw community of Manawan signed an Impact and Benefit Agreement in December 2024, through which the community provided its consent to the project. The agreement includes, notably, the participation of the Atikamekw community of Manawan in environmental monitoring and in the project’s monitoring committee, as well as employment, training, and business opportunities. As part of this ongoing collaboration, the first and largest construction work package for the mine was awarded in 2026 to a joint venture formed by the Manawan Atikamekw Council and a mining and civil contractor, Fournier Industries Inc. Finally, the regulatory process continued in 2026 with the approval of the mine’s closure plan by the Government of Québec.
All these efforts have contributed to shaping the design and development of the Matawinie Mine and to securing the mining lease. Expected to become the largest natural graphite mine in operation in Canada, the Matawinie Mine is one of the key projects of the Company’s integrated strategy, alongside its 13ktpy Bécancour Battery Material Plant for which a final investment decision is targeted in the coming months. Together, these projects are intended to establish one of the first fully integrated natural graphite production platforms in the G7.
Nouveau Monde Graphite is an integrated company developing responsible mining and advanced processing operations to supply the global economy with carbon-neutral advanced graphite materials. The Company is developing in Québec, Canada, a fully integrated ore-to-processed-graphite value chain to serve tomorrow’s industries in energy, advanced technology, and manufacturing. With recognized ESG standards and structuring partnerships with major customers, NMG is set to become a strategic supplier of advanced materials to leading specialized manufacturers while promoting sustainability, innovation, and supply chain traceability.